Multilingual Films and Integration? What role does Film Translation Play?

In this paper we will attempt to shed light on various aspects of film translation. Based on the situation in Germany, where for over three decades multilingual films have played a significant part in high-quality film production, various issues will be examined. Starting from the possible role of film translation as a potential factor of integration in a rapidly changing multicultural society, the main topics to discuss will be: translation modalities in AVT; the problem of the transfer of dialects and ethnic varieties in AVT vs. the right of ethnic minorities to "politically correct" translation; genre related "politically incorrect" transfer of minority language and varieties as found in comedies; reception in the target culture; economic conditions. The discussion will take into account relevant approaches of translation theory (Vermeer, House, Herbst, etc.).