YELENA
request for compliments, but from me he got 12 pages of notes, which led to an entirely new draft. I also connected him to a cinematographer friend looking for a worthy project. They have just finished their third film together. I see what you mean by “catalyst”. Any other favorite examples? I was traveling in my native Ukraine five years ago and discovered the workshop of an iron-ore miner, Vasyl Pilka, who does these miraculously fine and detailed glass etchings of the most extraordinary historical scenes and documents. I immediately resolved to make a documentary about his work. This resulted in his getting attention all over Europe as an artist, which has been vital for sustaining him during this dark time in Ukraine.
Yelena Makarczyk, known as Yelena Skye in her production endeavors, is truly the quintessential renaissance woman. Born and raised in Ukraine and some of the most far-flung regions of the Soviet Union, she arrived at UCLA as an international student at the tender age of 15. She learned English while rooming with other foreign students doing the same, creating bonds that have lasted a lifetime. She studied filmmaking, literature and linguistics, and soon after was part of a team that made an Emmy-winning documentary on the Romanov dynasty. Her multi-language skills organically cemented her career in localization. She became an expert in subtitling and dubbing in L.A.’s postproduction industry, known for having one of the most impressive rolodexes of translators anywhere. You call yourself, above all, a “catalyst.” Can you elaborate on that? I have always straddled multiple aspects of filmmaking, from the conception, writing and production side, to the purely post-production realm. I know firsthand how essential it is to get both ends of the process right – even if little glamour attaches to the localization side of it. (Notice how there is no award for Best Subtitling at the Oscars? There should be.) Here’s a story that illustrates how essential that part of the process is: About a decade ago, I was contacted by an indie French filmmaker who had sunk virtually his last dime into making his movie, and when it came time to submitting it to an American film festival he hired the cheapest translator he could find. At the L.A. screening, there were several instances when the audience laughed
at moments that were supposed to be dramatic, even poignant. He was mortified and asked for my help. It didn’t take me long to realize that the subtitles were awkward and literal, and often unintentionally comical. For example, one of the aspects of translation that most people don’t grasp is the ubiquity of “false friends” – the same word that doesn’t have the same meaning in both languages. For example, “affair” in English usually describes an adulterous sexual relationship, but “affaire” in French refers to a business deal. It’s not hard to imagine how this could be confusing, to put it mildly, in a subtitle. (In French, “liaison” is used for a love affair, and that itself is another false friend to its English cognate.) I had the film re-subtitled for him by one of my expert translators, and the new reaction he received at other festivals gained the film several awards and a distribution deal. Two years later, he brought me a new script to have translated and then asked for my opinion on the content. This is usually a pro forma
This must be a dark time for you, too. Yes, it has been. I have a large number of Ukrainian cousins, many of them who are more like siblings to me. I have raised tens of thousands of dollars to help them survive the war and also contributed subtitling to three short films about specific battles for Ukrainian Military Intelligence. I’ve also lost male members of my family as well as close childhood friends and colleagues in the war. Sometimes being so connected to every corner of the world isn’t so enviable. Over the years, I have lost several translators to various conflicts in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, and most recently, Israel. But being a citizen of the world, both professionally and personally, has far more upsides than not. For example, I have also been able to help émigrés who left everything behind, including an illustrator who does the most beautiful pet portraits imaginable, starting with the love of my life, my beautiful German Shepherd, Nikita.
