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DreamWorks Animation LLCA selection of Russian and Hollywood animated films, including Ice Age, Madagascar and Shrek, are to be dubbed into Chechen under a project aimed at popularizing the language among children.
Bislan Terekbayev, head of the film department at Chechnya’s culture ministry, was quoted in a post on the Chechen government’s website that a program of dubbing children’s animated films into the Chechen language has been launched.
According to Terekbayev, there are plans to translate popular Russian and Hollywood animated films. He specifically mentioned Ice Age, Madagascar and Shrek, as well as the Russian animated series Luntik.
A dubbing studio has been set up in Grozny and a team featuring actors, child psychologists, producers, linguists and technical personnel has been hired.
The launch of the project was triggered by requests from Chechens residing in Russia’s other regions and abroad, “concerned that children living in a foreign language environment begin to forget their native tongue,” Terekbayev said.
Recently, plans to launch a film studio, Chechen Film, and an international film festival in Grozny, were announced.
Over the last few years, several international film personalities, including Gerard Depardieu, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal, have been guests of Chechnya’s authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
