Since 1954, the Mar del Plata International Film Festival has captured Argentine and international cinema and consolidated itself as a platform for development and exchange in the film and audiovisual industry. It is a must-attend event for those involved in filmmaking, production, and distribution, as well as actors and cinephiles. Since 2019, the Asociación Argentina de Traductores e Intérpretes (AATI) has presented an award to a production with subtitling for the Deaf and hard of hearing and audio descriptions for the visually impaired. The aim of this award is to raise awareness and increase visibility – through these translation resources – of the need to provide accessible audiovisual products for an ever-growing audience.
The first short film to win this award in 2019 was Pinball by Nicanor Loreti; in 2020, the award went to Los primos by Marina Nerea Malchiodi; in 2021, to Fuera del área de cobertura by Agustina Wetzel; and in 2022, to Carne de Dios by Patricio Plaza.
This year, at the 38th edition of the Festival, the jury – comprising Federico Sykes, audiovisual producer of accessible content and responsible for the International Deaf Film Festival (FICSor); Fernando Galarraga, Executive Director of the National Disability Agency; and María Laura Ramos, member of AATI’s Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility Committee (TAVAcc) – decided to give the award for best Argentine short film to Quedate quieto o te amo, by Luis Federico, ‘because this short film has extensive capacity for audio description, and beautiful visual poetics that provide very rich ground for working with this resource. Although there is little dialogue, the ambient sound provides translation possibilities by means of descriptive subtitling and Argentine Sign Language.’
The film’s material is also made accessible thanks to the collaboration of AATI’s TAVAcc members, always receiving specialised external advice from people with visual and auditory disabilities.
This year, I had the honour of representing AATI at this year’s 38th Mar del Plata International Film Festival and presenting our award to Martín Busel (producer) and Nicolás Tavella (art director).
Over the course of a week, 150,000 people flocked to the cinemas to watch the 200 films being shown in more than 450 screenings, including short and feature films. It was a true showcase of diversity and of the inclusivity of cinema itself.
Nowadays, cinema is one of the most popular and widely accessed entertainment industries in the world, whether in actual cinemas, or through digital content services or television. The AATI Award helps to further expand its audience.
The winning short films have already been made accessible and are available on our YouTube channel.
Silvia Kederian, member of the Steering Committee and Treasurer, and member of the Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility Committee (AATI)