Petitioner Maxim Levenets proposes to revise bill No. 9432 on the use of the English language in Ukraine, namely paragraph 4, Article 9, on watching films in English in cinemas in the original with Ukrainian subtitles.
“Ukrainian dubbing, in addition to having a lot of fans, performs an important function – it contributes to Ukrainianization. Due to the lack of Ukrainian dubbing, the Ukrainian viewer can go to watch the film in Russian dubbing (with a digital release),” the author argues.
The petition proposes not to completely eliminate Ukrainian dubbing, but simply increase the number of screenings of films in the original with subtitles, leaving the viewers with a choice.
At the time of publication of the article, the proposal has garnered 11,989 signatures out of 25,000 required. Voting will continue for another 91 days.
Recall that on June 29, Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a draft law on the use of the English language in Ukraine for consideration by the Parliament, according to which English is officially recognized as one of the languages of international communication in our country. In addition to the fact that the document defines the categories of officials who will require mandatory knowledge of English, the text of the bill states that films in English in Ukrainian cinemas will be shown in the original with subtitles. It is planned that from 2025 cinemas will broadcast 50% of films in English in the original with subtitles in Ukrainian, from 2026 – 75%, and from 2027 – 100%. Ukrainians will be able to receive financial assistance from the state for the purchase of tickets during 2025-2027. It was this rule that caused a wide public outcry and launched heated discussions on social networks that are still ongoing. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine provided Aroged with official clarifications regarding the controversial clause in the document, noting that the draft is not a law – it still needs to be adopted with the passage of all the mandatory stages of the legislative process (readings in the Rada, the signature of the president), so the final version may very different from the original.
