cannot convert unicode text files

[tv]

it's not possible to convert unicode text files to usable postsript.

$ a2ps --version
GNU a2ps 4.13c

$ uname -rmo
2.6.12-gentoo-r10 i686 GNU/Linux

$ file -bi email.txt
text/x-mail; charset=utf-8

a2ps doesn't complain and produces a postscript file, but the unicode
characters are expanded to a (for the reader) meaningless byte-sequence.

if there is already a patch or a workaround for this i would be happy to
hear about it, since i couldn't find a solution for this on the web
(other than using a differen utility to convert the files) :-(


regards, tv