Aldi (aldiara) wrote in eskimo_kiss, @ 2010-10-06 12:07:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | giddy |
Entry tags: | [news] interviews, [translations] misc. |
Eskimo Kiss Project in DU&ICH!
The prominent German gay magazine DU&ICH wanted to know why on earth someone would spend all their time subtitling a German soap. A VERY GOOD QUESTION. So they did an interview with us for their October/November issue. Let's take a look at that, shall we?
Here's the article in German: Page 1 and Page 2.
And here's a translation:
Three women made the gay couple Deniz and Roman from the RTL show "Alles was zählt" world-famous via the Internet. They subtitle episodes featuring them in English - just for fun and because they love the soap and its storylines.
Hello, you two – how crazy do you have to be to subtitle a German soap opera like ALLES WAS ZÄHLT in English for the rest of the world?
Aldi: On an official crazy scale, I think we'd be near the top.
Lilith: Subtitling is just the start. The real crazy – and the real fun! – comes from engaging with the people in this fandom every single day.
Why do you love this show?
Aldi: It has a lot of self-irony, an incredibly talented cast, and it's not afraid to try new things and take risks. It's very progressive.
Lilith: Because of its balance of cracky humour with poignant heartbreak, heroes who aren't easy to love and villains you can't bring yourself to hate, and because of the extraordinarily high acting standard. And little details like the Eskimo kiss.
Eskimo kiss?
Aldi: The Eskimo kiss – that affectionate noserub thing Deniz and Roman do – is one of those little details for viewers who pay attention that makes the characters' relationship so natural and believable in our opinion. It all started with an improvised noserub in episode 299 that promptly caught our attention, and we named our project for it. It's since become something of a trademark gesture that's been used fairly regularly.
What benefits might viewers in Japan or the US get out of following the show?
Aldi: It might be very educational for international viewers to see how naturally AWZ approaches gay storylines in particular. Unfortunately many other countries are far behind in that regard.
Lilith: People anywhere can relate to many elements of the DeRo storyline - it's all about personal insecurities and struggling to figure out what makes you happy. And they'd be entertained - it's a soap, after all.
Do you have a message?
Aldi: Good stories will find a way to reach the people they could move – regardless of cultural or language barriers. How obstacles are frequently overcome in the course of that, how complete strangers connect with each other and the impossible is made possible – that's almost got a certain magic to it.
Lilith: Make it sparkle. I've always enjoyed debate, but with EKP I've found that you can challenge people to explore even difficult issues when you add a bit of whimsy and strew it with glitter.
Do you like everything – or are you particularly taken with the two gay characters?
Aldi: Everyone has their favourite characters, of course, and personally the gay storyline appeals to me the most. But what I enjoy particularly about AWZ are the ensemble stories where almost all the characters interact with each other.
Lilith: Part of my personal motivation for this project was to learn more about their surrounding community. Still, the gay characters are the core of the show for me and their issues what touch me most.
Are you gay girls?
Aldi: Cute question! I'm open to both, but I've been with my girlfriend for nine years. Thank god she's understanding about the AWZ obsession, otherwise I'd probably be single by now.
Lilith: Sometimes - depends who I've got my eye on at the moment.
You got to meet your idols in person. What was that like?
Aldi: Crazy, warm-hearted, brilliant. Igor and Dennis are incredibly affectionate and generous towards their fans in a way that I consider pretty unique. I especially appreciate how genuine they are about it – not a whiff of diva airs. They're just great people.
Lilith: Truly surreal, especially since they had read all the things we'd written about them. But we quickly discovered we share a similar sense of humour and way of looking at AWZ. And they've been unbelievably generous in supporting EKP. It's every fan's dream, isn't it, to discover the appreciation is mutual.
Do you subtitle other shows, too?
Aldi: Good lord, no! Even our days only have 72 hours.
Lilith: As rewarding as EKP is, duplicating that time and emotional commitment would be impossible. Unless we had clones.
Do you watch a lot of TV?
Aldi: Hardly anything. I watch most things on DVD.
Lilith: I don't own a TV anymore. Everything comes through my computer, so I'm more selective about what I download.
Do you also watch things that air in other countries (if so, what?)
Aldi: My current obsession is Skins, a British teen drama show. I'm also a huge Joss Whedon fan, so I enjoy rewatching Firefly or Buffy any time. And I try to keep up with new German movies.
Lilith: I love Doctor Who, Being Human, trashy shows like The Tudors. I enjoyed the Dutch show Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden for a while. And lots of movies from around the world.
(C) DU&ICH, Interview by Andreas Hergeth
WE CAN NOT STOP GIGGLE!