That is the question.

I'm speaking of movies here, specifically the ones that come with captions.

Nothing divides cinephiles like subtitles.

My best friend from uni went absolutely everywhere with me except to the movies.

Still today, she won't go to the cinema with me for fear I've chosen something with subtitles. (If only she knew I see a lot of G rated features these days!)

When I was 17 I pretty much learnt a foreign language by watching American movies and Fawlty Towers on Sunday afternoons and reading the Danish subtitles on the TV screen.

My Scandinavian accent left a lot to be desired but 30 years later I can still write well enough to be understood in Danish.

The Danes believed the Germans and Dutch were too lazy to read subtitles, meaning all of their television series and movies were dubbed.

I never took their word for it until I saw Australian series Neighbours in a motel in Amsterdam.

It was still rubbish without the gender-stereotype-defying-mechanic better known as Kylie Minogue, even in Double Dutch.

The Henderson Kids in German was even worse.

I soon decided the Danes had it right on subtitles among many other lifestyle choices like healthcare, education and open sandwiches.

Actors sound better in their native tongue; Russell Crowe in Croatian is not a good proposition.

Badly-done dubbing that is out of sync with the actors’ lips is even more distracting than focusing on text.

To avoid both scenarios, the Welsh have come up with a novel idea.

They’ve applied it to their popular noir police detective drama series, Hinterland, which is set in Aberystwyth; the town with an inordinate amount of crime and a chronic shortage of consonants. (I’ve been reliably informed that ‘Y’ is a vowel, but I can’t get my head around it! Why? Hard to say!!)

Each scene in Hinterland is filmed twice, in the English and Welsh languages, apart from a few scenes where Welsh with subtitles are used for the English version.

It is part of a commitment to show more Welsh language, life and culture on the mainstream BBC channels.

Can you imagine the outrage in Hollywood?

“That’s a wrap … in English! Now we’ll do it all over again in Finnish!”

I would have been more than happy to hear Hinterland in Welsh with English subtitles.

The Border Mail International Film Festival is presenting 45 films from around the world at the Regent Cinemas Albury over the next 12 days.

Film festival opening feature on Wednesday night, Cold War is described as a passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments.

Set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, the film depicts an impossible love story in impossible times.

If you can’t get your sci-fi-loving man to warm to Cold War, invite a girlfriend or work colleague to go along with you.

After war and tainted love, you will need a good laugh with C’est La Vie.

The French comedy – I refuse to say charming because that would just be a cliche – is about a disgruntled caterer working at his last wedding.

Max (Jean-Pierre Bacri) is just trying to get through the night, but has to deal with a cast of offbeat characters and a girlfriend who's flirting with a young server. 

But if subtitles are really not your thing, there are plenty of American and British films on offer.

The closing film Lean on Pete follows the journey of fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer) and his single father Ray (Travis Fimmel), who move to Portland, Oregon, both of them eager for a fresh start after some hard knocks.

Charley lands a job at a local racetrack caring for an ageing quarter horse named Lean On Pete. 

It’s a must for Fimmel fans; we know who we are!

The Border Mail International Film Festival runs from Wednesday until September 9.

For a brochure visit regentcinemas.com.au.