Watch Films In Their Original Language In Zurich
As a child, one of my fondest memories were trips to what was then the Disney Cinema in St Martins Lane, London, to see classic Disney movies on the big screen.The Jungle Book was the first movie I saw in a real theatre, but for kids today, the choice is a bit more limited.For kids in Zürich whose native language is not German, the option to watch movies in a real cinema is even more remote.But a new initiative from the Filmpodium in Zurich seeks to change this, by showing kids' movies in their native languages, with German subtitles.The first screening, on Sunday, April 4th at 15:00, will be Shrek at Filmpodium, Zürich:http://filmpodium.ch/film/168364/shrek I spoke to Laura Walde, in charge of social media, to find out more about the screenings.How did this initiative, to show kids' movies in the original language, begin? Filmpodium, a cinema run by the Mayor of Zurich’s Office of Cultural Affairs, is a major contributor to this city’s fantastic range of cultural activities. We show around 350 films per year – all in their original language. Of course, our whole team shares a passion for
movies, and for all of us it began at a tender age. It is one of our main concerns to foster and nurture the cinema experience, and this experience should be open to everybody. It is with increasing concern that we have watched the gradual shift in Switzerland – even in such an international city as Zurich – towards dubbed versions of English or American movies. It isn’t just that dubbed versions lose some of the films’ funniest jokes and most moving moments, as well as the voices of the original actors. It also means that many people living in our city cannot share this wonderful experience of watching a film together in a theater with their children. We feel that it’s part of our job to keep cinema alive for everybody.What are the plans for this initiative? Do you expect it to be ongoing?Filmpodium screens children’s films regularly every Saturday at 3 pm. For our Swiss audience, we have to show a dubbed version, as young children cannot be expected to read subtitles. In April, we will be screening the classic DreamWorks animated film Shrek, and as we all admire Mike Myers’ and Eddie Murphy’s workin this movie, we got the idea to schedule an additional screening in the original language. And that got us thinking: Why not make it a regular feature? We will henceforth try to offer at least one screening of the original version of a kids’ film whenever it makes sense (with a Swedish film, for example, there won’t be enough interest in an original version with German subtitles). So it’s meant to be ongoing and it’s supposed to become a regular feature – but this, of course, will depend on how these screenings are received by the audience. How can we buy tickets for the screenings?That’s easy: just go to Filmpodium website (www.filmpodium.ch), click on the tab “Kinderkino”, select the movie, and click on “TICKET” to make a booking. Or call us on 044 211 66 66, our whole staff is fluent in English and happy to help.For children under the age of 12, admission is 9 francs. For adults it’s 18 francs (but if you’re a film buff, consider treating yourself to one of our passes that allow you to buy tickets at half price – or even to get in “for free”).
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