Audio description (AD) as a mode of audiovisual accessibility has long been shaped by debates surrounding the appropriate balance between objectivity and subjectivity in the target text. This article approaches the issue from a functionalist perspective, examining how director-informed practices can reframe these tensions. Drawing on a case study, the research integrates the director’s input during the preparatory phase of the AD script of the short film Allimonó (2020, directed by Iakovos Panagopoulos), foregrounding authorial intention, symbolic layering, and the semantic weight of visual elements. This process is further enriched through sustained dialogue with the director, enabling critical engagement with both creative intent – as proposed by researchers such as Kruger (2012), Fryer & Freeman (2013), Fresno (2017), J. Jekat & Carrer (2018), and Bardini (2020), among others – and prevailing AD conventions.
The study demonstrates how a skopos-oriented approach (Reiß & Vermeer, 2014), grounded in collaboration with the filmmaker, can support a more nuanced rendering of meaning that aligns with both the creator’s vision and the needs of visually impaired audiences (Szarkowska, 2013). In doing so, it brings into focus two interrelated considerations: first, the need to reconceptualise the objectivity–subjectivity dichotomy (Mazur & Chmiel, 2012) as a continuum of descriptive and interpretive strategies calibrated to purpose and audience; and second, the importance of critically reassessing how audience needs are defined. By systematising the creator’s perspective within the AD process, the article contributes to ongoing discussions on authorship, accessibility, and the ethics of mediation in audiovisual translation.
Katerina Stogiou is a translator and an MA student of Science of Translation at the Ionian University. She also received her BA degree from the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting at the Ionian University. She translates from English, and German into Greek and vice versa. Her interests include the analysis of political discourse through a translation scholarly lens, sociolinguistics, fine arts, audiovisual translation, and accessibility in the Arts. She is currently working on her master's dissertation, which combines audio description and the filmography of Greek director Theo Angelopoulos.
Vilelmini Sosoni holds a PhD in Translation and Text Linguistics from the University of Surrey and is Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting at the Ionian University where she also serves as Associate Head. She is the Director of the Research Laboratory for Specialised Translation and Language Technologies (STraLaT) and a member of the University’s Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Committee. She also has extensive professional experience having worked as a professional translator, editor, content creator and audiovisual services provider. She has participated in several EU-funded projects and has published extensively in the areas of the Translation of Institutional Texts, Machine Translation and Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility, including Audio Description and SDH.
