How to translate

1. Choose a film you may subtitle

   A subtitle file is a translation of the film's words, and the law lets only a film's authors allow translations. So choose a film that is one of these:

   • In the public domain. In Georgia, a film is free once all its authors (the director, the scriptwriter, the author of the dialogue and the composer of its music) have been dead for 70 full years. In 2026, that means they all died in 1955 or earlier.
   • Under an open licence that allows translations: CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA. Not licences marked ND or NC.
   • Allowed in writing by the rights holder. Use the letter below.

   Everything listed under Films and Songs and poems has already been checked.

   Letter asking for permission

   Subject: Permission to publish subtitles for [film title]

   Dear [name],

   I am a volunteer with Translation Foundation (translation.foundation.ge), an open project that makes subtitles in Georgian and English. I would like to translate [film title] ([year]) into [English / Georgian] and publish the subtitles on translation.foundation.ge.

   The subtitles would be a separate text file with no part of the film, free for anyone to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence, credited to the film and its authors, and linked to the official place to watch it: [link].

   May I have your written permission to translate the film's dialogue and intertitles and publish the subtitles on these terms? If you would prefer other terms, please tell me.

   Kind regards,
   [your name]
   [email or phone]

   Copy the letter

2. Get a free subtitle editor

   Subtitle Edit (Windows, Linux) or Aegisub (Windows, macOS, Linux). Both are free and open source. Save your work as an SRT file in UTF-8.

3. Time and translate

   • If subtitles already exist in another language, keep their timing and replace the text. That is most of the work done.
   • If not, play the film, mark when each line starts and ends, and type it.
   • For a Georgian film, first write down the Georgian exactly as spoken or shown, then translate it into English with the same timing. You end up with two files.

   Each subtitle in an SRT file looks like this:

   1
   00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,500
   გამარჯობა!
   Hello!

4. Keep it readable

   Rule	Georgian	English
   Characters per line	42	42
   Lines per subtitle	2	2
   Time on screen	⅚–7 s	⅚–7 s
   Reading speed, at most	17 characters a second	20 characters a second

   Based on Netflix's subtitle guidelines. Netflix has no Georgian guide, so Georgian uses its limit for Greek.

   In Georgian subtitles

   • Quotation marks „like this“. Decimal comma: 2,5.
   • No Mtavruli capitals (ᲛᲗᲐᲕᲠᲣᲚᲘ): many players can't show them. Use italics for emphasis.
   • შენ or თქვენ: follow the relationship on screen.
   • Foreign names as they sound, with -ი after a consonant: ჯონი.

   In English subtitles of Georgian films

   • Names in Georgia's national romanization, without apostrophes: ვაჟია → Vazhia, წერეთელი → Tsereteli.
   • Plain English where it exists (სუფრა → feast); keep food and drink names (khachapuri, chacha).
   • Quotation marks “like this”.
   Try it: a Georgian name Keep the apostrophes (the official form for documents)

   Latin:

   Vazhia

5. Check the file

   The checker finds lines that are too long, subtitles that go by too fast and timing errors, and repairs Georgian typed in old fonts such as AcadNusx. It runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Then watch the whole film once with your subtitles.

6. Send it

   Upload the file with the form. A moderator checks it against the film, then it is published on the film's page with your name or nickname, under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence: anyone may use and share it, with credit.

   Upload subtitles

Songs and poems

Translate line by line: each line of the original gets one line of translation, with an empty line between verses. Get the meaning right first; rhyme and rhythm are a bonus. Paste both texts into the form. On the site they appear side by side, which helps people learning either language.

The same rights rule applies to lyrics: folk songs, poems whose authors died 70 or more years ago, openly licensed songs, or written permission. Most modern songs need the songwriter's or publisher's permission.