Foreign Films Must Be in Ukrainian: The Laws That Have Decided Cinema’s Language

When a foreign film is screened at a cinema in Ukraine, the rule is that it must be dubbed into Ukrainian or have Ukrainian audio overlaid on it. It can also be screened in its original language with Ukrainian subtitles, but the number of such screenings is capped, per cinema, at 10% of its monthly screenings. This is set out in Article 23, Paragraph 6 of the 2019 State Language Act (Law No. 2704-VIII) (in the version listed in the Verkhovna Rada’s legal database as of September 2026).

This rule did not appear suddenly in 2019. It goes back to the 1998 Cinema Act, and took its current form after a Constitutional Court ruling, a rewrite by a different language law, and that law being struck down as unconstitutional. The origins of the State Language Act itself, and the order in which it took effect field by field, are covered in our article on the State Language Act. Here we trace only the provisions concerning film.

Three Terms the Law Uses

Article 3 of the Cinema Act (January 13, 1998, Law No. 9/98-VR) defines three ways of replacing a film’s language.

• Dubbing (дублювання): translating the dialogue and re-recording it in another language, matched to the characters’ lip movements
• Voice-over (озвучення): replacing the original audio with different audio, not matched to lip movements, that conveys the content of the dialogue
• Subtitling (субтитрування): translating the original dialogue into another language and displaying that translation as text over the picture

Most provisions list all three side by side: “dubbing or voice-over, or subtitling.” Whether all three are equally acceptable, or subtitling alone is not enough, has differed depending on the period. Reading the timeline below with this distinction in mind shows how it has changed.

Timeline: Provisions on Cinema Language (1998–2026)

The 1998 Provision, and the 2007 Constitutional Court

The obligation to dub or subtitle foreign films into Ukrainian was written into Article 14, Paragraph 2 from the Cinema Act’s very first version. The same paragraph distinguishes between Ukrainian, which is mandatory, and national minority languages, for which it says something “may” be done.

Even so, how far this obligation extended was disputed. 60 members of the Verkhovna Rada asked the Constitutional Court to interpret the provision, citing among their reasons the spreading practice of the state issuing distribution and screening permits for foreign films with neither Ukrainian dubbing nor subtitles.

In its decision of December 20, 2007 (No. 13-rp/2007), the Constitutional Court read the combination of “must” and “may” as meaning that dubbing, voicing over, or subtitling into Ukrainian is an obligation every operator must fulfil before distributing a foreign film. It concluded that this obligation covers every copy distributed domestically, including copies used for cinema screenings, and that the state body responsible for film cannot issue a permit for a film that does not meet it. The decision also states that this obligation does not infringe the right to use a national minority language. During the proceedings, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada, the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Film Agency all expressed support for the petition.

The 2012 Law, and the 2018 Ruling of Unconstitutionality

“On the Principles of the State Language Policy” (No. 5029-VI), adopted July 3, 2012, substantially changed the rules for film. Its Article 23, Paragraph 4 provided that copies of foreign films for cinemas, commercial screenings, and home video be made in the original language, or dubbed into the state language, a regional language, or a minority language, at the order of distributors and exhibitors, taking audiences’ language needs into account. Dubbing or subtitling into Ukrainian became just one option among others. Cinema Act Article 14, Paragraph 2 was likewise replaced with a provision stating that foreign films are distributed in accordance with this law’s Article 23.

This 2012 law was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on February 28, 2018, and lost its effect. The Court’s decision was grounded not in the content of the law but in the procedure by which it was adopted. The background is covered in our article on the State Language Act.

The Current Provision: State Language Act, Article 23, Paragraph 6

The 2019 State Language Act sets out the language of film in its own Article 23, Paragraph 6. Cinema Act Article 14, Paragraph 2 now simply refers to it, stating that the use of the state language and other languages in the distribution and screening of film is governed by the State Language Act (and, for media operators, also by the Media Act). Paragraph 6 provides as follows.

• The language of a film distributed or screened in Ukraine is the state language
• A film made by a Ukrainian producer is distributed and screened with dialogue audio in Ukrainian (including dubbed or voiced-over). If dialogue in another language is shown with subtitles, it may make up no more than 10% of the total dialogue. A “national film” may also be screened in an indigenous language, such as Crimean Tatar
• Any other film is distributed and screened dubbed or voiced over into Ukrainian. A foreign film may also carry additional audio tracks in other languages
• A documentary that scores 2 or more points on the cultural criteria of the “cultural test” set out in the state film-support law, and whose approval is recorded in the state film register, may be distributed to cinemas with Ukrainian subtitles alone
• At a film festival coordinated with the body responsible for film, a work may be screened in its original language with Ukrainian subtitles
• A cinema may screen a foreign film in its original language with Ukrainian subtitles. However, screenings in an original language other than the state language are capped at 10% of that cinema’s monthly screenings. Screenings in the original language must be announced to audiences in advance
• An internet video-streaming service must play the Ukrainian-language audio track by default for a film that has one

Paragraph 6 was set to take effect 2 years after the State Language Act took effect (July 16, 2019). By that calculation, the current 10% cap began to apply in July 2021.

Did “English-Language Films in Subtitles” Become Law?

Between 2023 and 2024, a proposal was debated to have English-language films screened in cinemas in their original language. According to a June 28, 2023 article in the Ukrainian media trade publication Detector Media, the original version of Bill No. 9432, submitted by the President, provided for English-original foreign films to be screened in cinemas in the original language with Ukrainian subtitles, with the share rising to 50% in 2025, 75% in 2026, and 100% from 2027. The same publication reported on November 22, 2023 that when the Verkhovna Rada passed the bill in its first reading, this film provision had been removed.

Nor does the text of the law adopted on June 4, 2024 (No. 3760-IX) contain any provision requiring cinemas to screen films in English. Instead, its closing provisions require the Cabinet of Ministers to draw up a state program supporting the learning and use of English, and to set out within it a scheme for cinemas to screen foreign films in English. There are four conditions.

• It must comply with the State Language Act’s rules (the 10% cap remains unchanged)
• English-language screenings are voluntary for cinemas
• Costs not covered by ticket sales are made up from the state budget
• A participating cinema must screen films in English at least 8 times a month per screen, with at least 2 of those per week either on a holiday or starting after 18:00 on a weekday

By Order No. 334-r of March 25, 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers approved this program for 2026–2030. Among its expected outcomes, the program lists at least 120 English-language screenings a year (the unit is given only as “instances”) per screen at a cinema showing foreign films in English. It is a voluntary, state-subsidized scheme, not a mandate.

Television and Streaming Are Covered by Different Provisions

The rules for cinemas and the rules for television and streaming are in different provisions. State Language Act Article 24 leaves the language of television broadcasting to the 2022 Media Act (No. 2849-IX). Media Act Article 40 requires that, for a licensed television broadcaster, Ukrainian-language programming — including film — make up at least 90% of weekly broadcast time (for national and regional channels) or at least 80% (for channels with a narrower reach), within each of the time bands 7:00–18:00 and 18:00–22:00. Internet video streaming is covered by the “Ukrainian audio by default” provision in Article 23, Paragraph 6, above.

Which films count as Ukrainian works eligible for state support (the definition of a “national film”) is covered in our article on the film-support law, and which country’s cinema a Soviet-era work is called is covered in our article on the five things “Ukrainian film” can mean.