History of a failed deal
In 2011, an agreement was signed between the Catalan Government and the major American film producers, with the aim of dubbing a minimum of 25 films a year into Catalan. However, this ambitious goal has proved difficult to achieve.
Expectations and realities
In the first years after the agreement, only 16 titles were dubbed, and this number has been gradually decreasing. The data reveal that, between 2012 and May 2024, only a total of 136 films dubbed in Catalan have been released, equivalent to less than ten films per year.
Impact of the pandemic and other factors
Francesc Xavier Vila, Secretary of Linguistic Policy, has acknowledged the obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the most recent strike by Hollywood actors and screenwriters. These situations have made it even more difficult for distributors to set up demands.
What this disagreement means
The pact, designed to increase the audience share in Catalan, aimed for cinema in this language to reach 35% of the audience in 2017. Now, thirteen years later, the offer remains stagnant, and cinema audiences in Catalan remains around 3%.
Premiere titles: a step into the center of the industry
So far, the big studio industry has produced 136 titles in Catalan, which represent around 10% of the totality of cinema in Catalan released so far. Among them stands out the impact of Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Paramount and Sony, who have combined nearly a third of the premieres.
What has it meant for the public?
The films of these major production companies have captured close to 40% of cinema viewers in Catalan in the last decade, despite being comparatively few. This demonstrates the necessary relevance of this agreement to promote the cinematographic offer in Catalan.
Efforts for a better future
With 2024 marked by the release of films such as ‘Del revés 2’, which has already achieved high levels of audience, the Department of Culture is looking to collaborate with distributors to provide theaters with more titles in Catalan, both at the cinema and on digital platforms.
Aids and investments in dubbing
The Government is increasing the budget for the subtitling and dubbing of films in Catalan, taking into account that it has gone from 4.5 million euros in 2020 to a forecast of 11.5 million for 2024. This it reflects a greater commitment to regain lost ground.
A worrying scenario
Despite the efforts, the percentage of films in Catalan shown in theaters is alarmingly low, with only 3.3%. In some local cinemas the figure did not even reach 2%, and this reality underlines the urgent need for a change in the public’s consumption habits.
Competence with Spanish
The disparity between cinema in Catalan and Spanish is remarkable, with almost 13.3 million tickets sold for sessions in Spanish compared to 434,648 in Catalan. This again shows the long traversal that Catalan-language cinema has to go through in order to reach more viewers.
Reflections on the future of cinema in Catalan
Despite the setbacks, persistence in dubbing and the release of major titles is key to revitalizing interest in cinema in this language. The road is progressing with difficulties, but there is hope that the premieres in the sector and the initiatives of the Government can gradually transform the reality of cinema in Catalan.
