Carol O'Sullivan
@carolosullivan.bsky.social
Academic, translation researcher, film nerd, zero waste obsessive. Opinions expressed in a personal capacity. #filmtranslationhistory
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
Names are probably among the most challenging things to localize. Although sometimes... They can be a lot of fun to work with 🎭
In Once Upon a Puppet, most characters have tree names that pair as ordinary names in English. Let's see how we adapted them into Spanish 👇 🪵
In Once Upon a Puppet, most characters have tree names that pair as ordinary names in English. Let's see how we adapted them into Spanish 👇 🪵
December 3, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Names are probably among the most challenging things to localize. Although sometimes... They can be a lot of fun to work with 🎭
In Once Upon a Puppet, most characters have tree names that pair as ordinary names in English. Let's see how we adapted them into Spanish 👇 🪵
In Once Upon a Puppet, most characters have tree names that pair as ordinary names in English. Let's see how we adapted them into Spanish 👇 🪵
As an autistic person I found this fascinating and feel that it explains a lot!
This letter to the British Journal of Psychiatry tells us everything we need to know about current thinking in #autism research. Concise, accessible & powerful. Read it if you think autism = social deficits! #DoubleEmpathyProblem www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Autism diagnosis and the double empathy problem | The British Journal of Psychiatry | Cambridge Core
Autism diagnosis and the double empathy problem
www.cambridge.org
November 30, 2025 at 6:54 PM
As an autistic person I found this fascinating and feel that it explains a lot!
I saw this film at @wshed.bsky.social last night where it opened the fifteenth Bristol Palestine Film Festival. I don't have any words, but I encourage as many people as possible to see it when it is released.
Kaouther Ben Hania’s ‘THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB’ has been acquired by Altitude in the UK.
It will be released in theaters in the UK on January 16.
It will be released in theaters in the UK on January 16.
November 29, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I saw this film at @wshed.bsky.social last night where it opened the fifteenth Bristol Palestine Film Festival. I don't have any words, but I encourage as many people as possible to see it when it is released.
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
BPFF 2025 is here!
After months of hard work behind the scenes, Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2025 gets underway today with a sold-out screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab.
All the programme is online!
melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2025/11/bpff...
bristolpff.org.uk
After months of hard work behind the scenes, Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2025 gets underway today with a sold-out screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab.
All the programme is online!
melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2025/11/bpff...
bristolpff.org.uk
BPFF 2025 is here
BPFF 2025 is here After months of hard work behind the scenes, Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2025 gets underway today with a sold-out ...
melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
BPFF 2025 is here!
After months of hard work behind the scenes, Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2025 gets underway today with a sold-out screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab.
All the programme is online!
melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2025/11/bpff...
bristolpff.org.uk
After months of hard work behind the scenes, Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2025 gets underway today with a sold-out screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab.
All the programme is online!
melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2025/11/bpff...
bristolpff.org.uk
Looking fwd to speaking at this online symposium tomorrow on audience perspectives in AVT. Sad not to be in Forlì in person, but event moved online because of the general strike.
Anybody welcome to attend. Forms signup sheet is here:
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
Anybody welcome to attend. Forms signup sheet is here:
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
November 27, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Looking fwd to speaking at this online symposium tomorrow on audience perspectives in AVT. Sad not to be in Forlì in person, but event moved online because of the general strike.
Anybody welcome to attend. Forms signup sheet is here:
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
Anybody welcome to attend. Forms signup sheet is here:
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
Fresh out of a lecture where I talked about gender in/and translation, here's this fascinating thread about Una mujér fantastica/A fantastic woman, which I happen to have recently seen, and all the stuff that I didn't pick up in the subtitles as a non-Spanish speaker... #subtitles
As a trans Latine and native Spanish speaker, I wanted to add a bit of context about language in this movie that the podcast hosts missed as non Spanish speakers. This film uses the gendered and formality aspects of Spanish a lot, which don’t fully come across in the English subtitles. 🧵(1/6)
In today's episode, we discuss 2017 Chilean film A Fantastic Woman. This film's grounded & hopeful depiction of a trans woman's grief provided such a realistic look at the legal barriers facing trans people in Chile that it contributed to changes in legislation around gender transition.
November 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Fresh out of a lecture where I talked about gender in/and translation, here's this fascinating thread about Una mujér fantastica/A fantastic woman, which I happen to have recently seen, and all the stuff that I didn't pick up in the subtitles as a non-Spanish speaker... #subtitles
How fragile the lifespan of good subtitles can be, compared to, let's say, a good book translation.
Subtitles don't necessarily get better over time. Often they get worse, as carefully curated versions are replaced, out of ignorance or greed, by cheap, hasty subtitling-by-numbers. :(
Subtitles don't necessarily get better over time. Often they get worse, as carefully curated versions are replaced, out of ignorance or greed, by cheap, hasty subtitling-by-numbers. :(
And here we are, 11 years later.
The Dattebayo subs were, AND STILL ARE, the finest in existence. Their translators were native speakers of Japanese and English, so their understanding of the language was without peer.
And now Crunchyroll stabs the fans in the back.
THIS is why you pirate.
/end
The Dattebayo subs were, AND STILL ARE, the finest in existence. Their translators were native speakers of Japanese and English, so their understanding of the language was without peer.
And now Crunchyroll stabs the fans in the back.
THIS is why you pirate.
/end
November 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
How fragile the lifespan of good subtitles can be, compared to, let's say, a good book translation.
Subtitles don't necessarily get better over time. Often they get worse, as carefully curated versions are replaced, out of ignorance or greed, by cheap, hasty subtitling-by-numbers. :(
Subtitles don't necessarily get better over time. Often they get worse, as carefully curated versions are replaced, out of ignorance or greed, by cheap, hasty subtitling-by-numbers. :(
A salutary reminder that physical media is where it's at, if you actually value the media you're watching. #revengeofanalog #revengeofanalogue
So Crunchyroll has acquired the Funimation library and is shutting down the app. Digital copies you purchased on Funimation? Gone. Wasted money.
People ask why I collect physical media. This is why. You can literally BUY A THING and a bunch of well-compensated assholes can be like “actually no”
People ask why I collect physical media. This is why. You can literally BUY A THING and a bunch of well-compensated assholes can be like “actually no”
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
A salutary reminder that physical media is where it's at, if you actually value the media you're watching. #revengeofanalog #revengeofanalogue
The @cubecinema.com is yet one more reason why it is fun to be a film nerd and live in Bristol
Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor (1975) starring the late Robert Redford is on @cubecinema.com, Monday 24th November, 8PM. #NeoNoir #FilmNoir #Bristol : cubecinema.com/programme/ev...
November 23, 2025 at 10:27 PM
The @cubecinema.com is yet one more reason why it is fun to be a film nerd and live in Bristol
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor (1975) starring the late Robert Redford is on @cubecinema.com, Monday 24th November, 8PM. #NeoNoir #FilmNoir #Bristol : cubecinema.com/programme/ev...
November 19, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor (1975) starring the late Robert Redford is on @cubecinema.com, Monday 24th November, 8PM. #NeoNoir #FilmNoir #Bristol : cubecinema.com/programme/ev...
A doozy of an example of why using cheap-ass free translation apps is often a terrible idea
So, I got the limited edition sparkly Black Honey lipstick. And inside the box there was a translation error so fundamental that I wasn't sure what I was seeing at first.
"Tear" in English: verb, to rip
"Lacrymal" in French: adjective, pertaining to tears as in tear ducts/lachrymal ducts
"Tear" in English: verb, to rip
"Lacrymal" in French: adjective, pertaining to tears as in tear ducts/lachrymal ducts
November 23, 2025 at 10:18 PM
A doozy of an example of why using cheap-ass free translation apps is often a terrible idea
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
#Subtitling is like working with dough. I let my subtitles rest for a day or two before refining them with a thorough review and simulation.
#subtitlingmetaphors #translationmetaphors
#subtitlingmetaphors #translationmetaphors
December 22, 2024 at 2:14 PM
#Subtitling is like working with dough. I let my subtitles rest for a day or two before refining them with a thorough review and simulation.
#subtitlingmetaphors #translationmetaphors
#subtitlingmetaphors #translationmetaphors
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
Every time a attend one of @jossmo.bsky.social Joss Morken's speeches, apart from admiring the depth of insight, I love how he uses photos to accompany references. I think we should all do that in conferences. Emphasizes the real people behind quotations, and also shows how many women there are.
January 10, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Every time a attend one of @jossmo.bsky.social Joss Morken's speeches, apart from admiring the depth of insight, I love how he uses photos to accompany references. I think we should all do that in conferences. Emphasizes the real people behind quotations, and also shows how many women there are.
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
#zerosubtitles: deliberately omitted #subtitles for utterances considered to be easily understood without them, intentionally incomprehensible, or functioning as sound effects. The decision to omit can be made by the subtitler or the creator.
people.com/movies/steve...
people.com/movies/steve...
Steven Spielberg Refused to Subtitle Spanish in West Side Story to Not Give 'English the Power'
Steven Spielberg explained why West Side Story doesn't carry subtitles for the Spanish spoken in the film by his Latinx cast
people.com
November 23, 2024 at 2:03 PM
#zerosubtitles: deliberately omitted #subtitles for utterances considered to be easily understood without them, intentionally incomprehensible, or functioning as sound effects. The decision to omit can be made by the subtitler or the creator.
people.com/movies/steve...
people.com/movies/steve...
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
Watching Welcome to Wrexham, and it's another example of whatever method Disney+ is using to get Swedish subtitles is an insult to their subscribers and professional translators both.
So much stuff a proper translator would never have done.
So much stuff a proper translator would never have done.
April 20, 2024 at 6:29 PM
Watching Welcome to Wrexham, and it's another example of whatever method Disney+ is using to get Swedish subtitles is an insult to their subscribers and professional translators both.
So much stuff a proper translator would never have done.
So much stuff a proper translator would never have done.
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
“But a better way forward would be to start celebrating the work of the subtitler; to praise their contribution to the global cinema landscape, and their vital role in bringing stories across borders.”
The "one-inch barrier" that Bong Joon Ho spoke of in 2019 still exists – and it's not always audiences who are to blame for subtitles being inaccessible
Lost in Translation: The unsung art of subtitling
The "one-inch barrier" that Bong Joon Ho spoke of in 2019 still exists – and it's not always audiences who are to blame for subtitles being inaccessible.
lwlies.com
March 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM
“But a better way forward would be to start celebrating the work of the subtitler; to praise their contribution to the global cinema landscape, and their vital role in bringing stories across borders.”
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
Thanks for following the IFFR24 edition of "say, who subtitled this film?" Time for stats!
15 films +1 without subtitles
3 properly credited their subtitler
2 credited a translator but no subtitler
1 credited a company
10 credited no one at all (or way too discreetly for my keen eye to catch it)
15 films +1 without subtitles
3 properly credited their subtitler
2 credited a translator but no subtitler
1 credited a company
10 credited no one at all (or way too discreetly for my keen eye to catch it)
February 2, 2024 at 6:25 PM
Thanks for following the IFFR24 edition of "say, who subtitled this film?" Time for stats!
15 films +1 without subtitles
3 properly credited their subtitler
2 credited a translator but no subtitler
1 credited a company
10 credited no one at all (or way too discreetly for my keen eye to catch it)
15 films +1 without subtitles
3 properly credited their subtitler
2 credited a translator but no subtitler
1 credited a company
10 credited no one at all (or way too discreetly for my keen eye to catch it)
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
Been noticing that the subtitles on hbo have no idea what to do with any word that's AAVE. Eg a character said she got turnt but the subtitle was "turked"?
August 9, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Been noticing that the subtitles on hbo have no idea what to do with any word that's AAVE. Eg a character said she got turnt but the subtitle was "turked"?
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
This is a good example of the subjective nature of what a good localization means.
People who are interested in learning about Japanese culture and language will likely gravitate towards practices like "translator's notes" which are fairly prevalent in fansubs but are rare in official subtitles.
People who are interested in learning about Japanese culture and language will likely gravitate towards practices like "translator's notes" which are fairly prevalent in fansubs but are rare in official subtitles.
July 5, 2025 at 1:41 AM
This is a good example of the subjective nature of what a good localization means.
People who are interested in learning about Japanese culture and language will likely gravitate towards practices like "translator's notes" which are fairly prevalent in fansubs but are rare in official subtitles.
People who are interested in learning about Japanese culture and language will likely gravitate towards practices like "translator's notes" which are fairly prevalent in fansubs but are rare in official subtitles.
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
April 9, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
There was some ink spilled over the Japanese subtitles on "Barbie" not quite sticking the landing on "patriarchy" but I also want to bring attention to how the poor translator just completely gave up on attempting to localize "beach off"
August 23, 2023 at 4:40 AM
There was some ink spilled over the Japanese subtitles on "Barbie" not quite sticking the landing on "patriarchy" but I also want to bring attention to how the poor translator just completely gave up on attempting to localize "beach off"
Reposted by Carol O'Sullivan
This is a really interesting illustration of how the limitations of subtitling and dubbing affect localization choices! -- super quick thread! 🧵
As always, the question is: How do translators and adaptors make the decision to localize cultural references?
As always, the question is: How do translators and adaptors make the decision to localize cultural references?
I keep bouncing between the sub and dub scripts for watakon because they're both weird in their own ways but never in my 200 years watching anime have I seen this one (left sub, right dub, no I didn't get them backwards)
February 18, 2025 at 7:09 PM
This is a really interesting illustration of how the limitations of subtitling and dubbing affect localization choices! -- super quick thread! 🧵
As always, the question is: How do translators and adaptors make the decision to localize cultural references?
As always, the question is: How do translators and adaptors make the decision to localize cultural references?
A fascinating piece of #filmtranslationhistory that I'm definitely going to add in to the book! #historyofsubtitling
In September 1989, AnimEigo put out an advert in the Anime Stuff CompuServe newsletter looking for translators for their first releases. I wonder if anyone was actually hired this way. The fact they listed Project A-ko shows just how early this was.
archive.org/details/anim...
archive.org/details/anim...
November 17, 2025 at 11:32 PM
A fascinating piece of #filmtranslationhistory that I'm definitely going to add in to the book! #historyofsubtitling
I am so, so OVER short videos w/ basic subtitle transcription errors.
Michael Rooker says 'robbing that camp BLIND'.
Would it kill posters to proofread? Is there some deep technical reason why it's impossible to correct subtitles in vertical video?
#subtitles #sloppysubtitles
Michael Rooker says 'robbing that camp BLIND'.
Would it kill posters to proofread? Is there some deep technical reason why it's impossible to correct subtitles in vertical video?
#subtitles #sloppysubtitles
November 17, 2025 at 9:22 PM
I am so, so OVER short videos w/ basic subtitle transcription errors.
Michael Rooker says 'robbing that camp BLIND'.
Would it kill posters to proofread? Is there some deep technical reason why it's impossible to correct subtitles in vertical video?
#subtitles #sloppysubtitles
Michael Rooker says 'robbing that camp BLIND'.
Would it kill posters to proofread? Is there some deep technical reason why it's impossible to correct subtitles in vertical video?
#subtitles #sloppysubtitles
These are some of the exact questions we've been trying to ask about via the UK Subtitling Audiences Network, only more pithily phrased :)
Yeah, and it's like, I get it, the numbers tell the bean counters that good enough keeps the lights on just fine. But is it because people are genuinely satisfied or because they're a captive audience with insufficient alternatives for their needs? And I reckon the status quo is largely that.
November 7, 2025 at 12:40 AM
These are some of the exact questions we've been trying to ask about via the UK Subtitling Audiences Network, only more pithily phrased :)