LING'S ROLE: DIRECTOR, CAMERA, EDITOR

"...the film evoked chills and tears throughout the room as we watched, listened, and reflected."
(Migrant Women Press. 27th June 2024)

"As the film highlights, there is very little regulation around translation and interpretation. There is no requirement for interpreters working with people who have experienced trauma..."
(Rape Crisis Scotland, Dec 2024)

"The film powerfully illustrated how inaccurate or insensitive translation can lead to miscarriages of justice, exacerbate trauma, and prevent victims from accessing essential support services. It highlighted the human cost of linguistic barriers far more effectively than any theoretical discussion could."
(Audience member, Nov 2024)

If our words are mistranslated - our truth is not told.


Rejeen Musa was working as a subtitler on 'Surviving Translation' when the words she was translating began to unlock painful memories from her own past. As a female Kurdish migrant and a translator, Rejeen became the lens through which the film explores the trauma and life-altering consequences of mistranslation.
In addition to Rejeen, the film captures testimonies from women who fled their homelands in the hope of building a new life in the UK. They speak candidly of the dangers and gender-based violence they suffered in their past and the arduous journeys they undertook to escape. They explain that – even after arriving in the UK – they need to communicate via an interpreter to secure medical care and apply for asylum; a process which causes them to relive past traumas and recurring unequal power dynamics. With their futures held in the balance – they must speak via a complete stranger who may or may not have their best interest at heart.
To further illuminate this largely unexamined subject, the film also presents testimonies from interpreters, subtitlers and translators who describe the – sometimes harrowing – challenges that they themselves face.
Raw testimony, poetic imagery, and academic research coalesce in this unique meditation on translation, isolation, and the meaning of 'home'.

Contributors: Sara, Elizabeth, Odile, Rejeen, Kasia, Raquel, Anthony, Giorgia

Directed and filmed by: Ling Lee, Producers: Ling Lee & Charlotte Bosseaux, Editor: Ling Lee, Composer & Sound Designer: Tom Drew, Vocalists: Tania She & Cliona Cassidy, Production Coordinator Saheliya: Aisha, Keiko, Alison, Ahlam, Supporting Staff Saheliya: Anonymous Case Worker, Chibeyu, Fathumo Hannaa, Khadija Ali, Laila, Rida, Trauma Training: Judy Ferguson, Additional Camera: Eilidh Munro & Inma de Reyes, Camera Assistant: Sarah Fairbrother, Stills Photographer: Eilidh Munro & Ling Lee, Stand Ins: Kasia Wytrazek, Lea Ozuna, Nur Ezzah Binti Mahmud, Charlotte Bosseaux, Additional Voices: Charlotte Bosseaux, Keiko, Odile, Sara, Anonymous Case Worker, Polina Moshenska, Tianhui Wu, Sara Ni Eithir, Production Assistant, Sarah Fairbrother, Edit Assistant & Online Editor: Fraser Ballantyne, Colourist & Titling: Drew Gibson, Subtitle & Voiceover Project Management: Screen Language, Subtitles Kurdish Sorani: Rejeen Musa, Subtitles El Salvador Spanish: Denice Zura, Subtitiles Cameroon French: Tatiana Ngah Ebode, English Subtitler & Proofreader: Alexia Delesalle
Our heartfelt thanks goes to the women of Saheliya – without whom this film would not have been possible

Surviving Translation © University of Edinburgh, 2023
Based on original research by Charlotte Bosseaux (co-creator, co-producer)
Director: Ling Lee (editor and co-producer)
Funded by an AHRC Research, Development and Engagement Fellowship (Grant number: AH/W000199/1)


FESTIVALS:
Awareness Festival 2023, LA - Honourable Mention
International Migration & Environmental Film Festival 2024, Toronto
Refugee Festival Scotland 2024
Bridge of Peace 2024, Paris
On Earth 2024, Poland
Africa International Human Rights Film Festival 2024, Lagos

BLOG AND PRESS
Rape Crisis Scotland, Dec 2024
Migrant Women Press, June 2024