Staff Pick Premiere: A Desperate Plea, Lost in Translation

If the past volatile couple of years on planet Earth have taught us anything, it is that while being heard should be a human right, it is unfortunately more of a gift. We’ve continued to learn that, somehow, there are endless barriers to being listened to and understood, even if you and your potential allies speak the same language.

Struggle and emotion associated with a difficult challenge may be a universal feeling that elicits sympathy and action in our supporters, but what happens when the words used to express those feelings are undecipherable to those who might aid us? You could be staring an ally in the face, telling them horrific stories, but if they do not understand the words coming out of your mouth, they cannot help you. Such is the issue in this week’s award-winning Staff Pick Premiere, “Listen.”

Winner of the “Best Narrative Short” award at Tribeca Film Festival 2014 and chosen as one of our top dramas of 2016, “Listen” is the story of a Muslim woman who is unable to fully communicate her need for protection due to the assignment of a translator with their own agenda. In twelve harrowing minutes, a sympathetic viewer will search frantically for ways to help our protagonist, who is caught in an unfortunately not uncommon web of crime, language, and the restrictions of their faith. We were fortunate enough to ask the directors Hamy Ramezan and Rungano Nyoni and producer Valeria Richter a few questions about how “Listen” came about…

In a past interview, Hamy, you mentioned that the idea for this short was half personal experience and half fiction. Can you elaborate on that and how the idea for “Listen” came about?

Hamy: The production framework was that the financing and premiere as well as the production line-up was all in place when we were selected as directors, so our job was to basically get to know each other and come up with an idea fast, an idea that would fit the format of a maximum of fifteen minutes and which could be shot in Copenhagen and somehow also work within a Danish and Nordic context.

We both, Rungano and I, had ideas and as we started talking, this one idea started to emerge. We took this story from an amalgamation of many real life cases that took place. Police and even professional translators refused to translate for women who sought their help while fleeing domestic violence.

Rungano: In one case, the policeman who was brought in to translate for a Somali woman told her that if she promised to go back home right away instead of pressing charges, then he wouldn’t tell her husband. Another tried to get their neighbor to do it, who also refused. One woman got so desperate that she used her young son to translate to the police that she had been raped by his father, which was awful. Every translation nightmare imaginable and each with its own reasons.

Valeria: From a production point of view, it has been a great journey with “Listen.” We feel confident that it has also had a positive influence on the development process, in that it was produced within a group context, where the two directors had to collaborate closely. They also had six other directors around them to bounce ideas around with. Plus, there was the pressure of a fixed shooting schedule and delivery deadline, which forced them to make decisions quickly to use their conflicts and discussions constructively to finish the film.

Do you know how often this actually happens? Are there reported incidents of interpreters acting as agents to send escapees back to abusive partners?

Hamy and Rungano: Yes, it does happen more often than you’d think; either by accident or on purpose, interpreters translate differently from what is actually said. This situation in the film is fiction, but it is inspired by real incidents. As directors, we both dislike giving all the answers, so the idea is for people to watch the film and discuss. It’s so important that people interpret it how they see it. So much in life is about interpretation.

In Denmark, we spoke to translators, and most have at least one story with misinterpretation. The film has also been screened at a European conference for people working at borders, as the risk for miscommunication is big there. The film is also being used for educational purposes at some Nordic translator schools and courses, so it has become a work tool as well, which means a lot for us — that the film can inspire students to have this awareness with them.

Directors Hamy Remezan and Rungano Nyoni

The Muslim population of Denmark is quite small — 4.8% out of a population of 5 million. Is there any particular reason why you chose to base the story in this country? One of the authorities says “We’re all Danes here,” which suggests that “Listen’s” Muslim protagonist is a citizen?

Valeria: As mentioned, the production set-up of “Listen” is special, in that it was part of a production of four short films shot simultaneously, a program named Nordic Factory, which was set to premiere at a special screening in Cannes in 2014 at the Directors’ Fortnight section. The film is a co-production between Finland and Denmark, and because the producers are based in Copenhagen and Malmoe (Sweden), all four films were to be shot in Copenhagen during a maximum of five days of shooting with a limited crew of around eight people on set. ach team of two directors were matched up with local directors of photography, sound designers, and other crew members, with everyone editing their films at the same post house. This meant that the scripts were, to some extent, written to fit into a Danish or Nordic context.

The film has been screened at close to 170 festivals and events. The theme of the film is universal — if you don’t try to listen, well, things can easily go wrong in many ways. That is what we think it has resonated with so many different audiences. The focus of the story is that no matter what your background is, things can easily go wrong in so many ways if you don’t listen.

You both directed a cast and crew whose first languages, Danish and Arabic, you did not speak. How did you bridge the language gap to create such an emotionally powerful short? Did you simply use a translator or were there other techniques?

Hamy and Rungano: Directing the actors was super complicated, partly because of the language barrier. Zeinab, who played the mother, only spoke Arabic and some Danish. Her translator couldn’t speak English. Yusuf, who played the son, could speak Arabic and Danish and could understand English. The rest of the actors could speak English. So there were a lot of ‘lost in translation’ moments. We ended up using those awkward moments in the film.

On day one, we had an issue because Zeinab had learned the lines, but was not able to interpret them as well as she could because she didn’t fully understand them. We took her aside and asked her just to speak from the heart — to say whatever she wanted. It was magical because she really let go. We took only a couple of takes and we were done. The beauty about finding something truthful is that you understand it in whatever language.

Valeria: Despite the various language barriers, there were a lot of laughs on-set, and also at the wrap party.

Translation has really been an integral part of the whole production process, since we needed to make everyone on the team understand the film’s vision without knowing any of them for a long time in advance. Working with a team of two directors was also a challenge in itself: how you decide who does what, how you work through situations where you disagree, and so on. “Listen” was all about trusting the magic of serendipity.

You never see the protagonist’s face in the film. What considerations go into casting a character whose expressions the audience would not be able to decipher?

Hamy and Rungano: Our aim was just to put an audience through the frustration of a woman who is simply trying to escape domestic violence. We wanted to put you in her shoes and engage with someone whose face you don’t see. We were wary of the fact that it would be a challenge to engage with someone under a burqa, with her eyes obscured. Zeinab was the most interesting person to cast. At first, she was very shy, and then she came out of her shell. She had a wide spectrum of emotions. She was very funny and very emotional. The magic that happened with Zeinab was that when she read the script she started crying. We knew that the story was good, but that it could make someone cry was a surprise. Her life experiences added a lot to the whole story. She was perfectly cast.

Yussuf is the only hope that our protagonist has as a bridge between her, the translator and the Danish authorities. He has the power to help his mother but doesn’t — why is this? What is his significance in this story?

Hamy and Rungano: This is a great discussion to have. What would make a young boy go against his mother’s wishes? Does he think he’s doing what is best for her? Is he afraid of his father? Does he really believe he can protect her? Is he just continuing a cycle? Yussuf is inspired by the real-life story we mentioned, and we wanted to play with that, how parents may feel forced to rely on their kid for something which a kid should not be involved in.

Valeria: What could he have done? His position in the story adds another perspective to the situation they are all in, it asks more questions and deepens the conflict.

There are periods of extended blackness in this film, such as at the beginning from 1:13–1:34 and from 3:21 to 3:28, during which we still can hear the voices of characters. Is this darkness symbolic to the story in any way?

Hamy: If someone in the audience finds it symbolic, then it is a symbolic gesture. We all see and interpret the story in our own ways. It would be very boring if I would make up one sole answer for the audience. My answer would end the reflection process in their mind after the film ends.

Valeria: This element of adding the black spaces emerged during the editing process and while I will also not go into any symbolics. It does create a rhythm, and in some way, alerts you to pay attention. The repetition of the dialogue also opens the idea of listening from different perspectives. By omitting the subtitles the third time we hear it, we put the viewer in the same position as the police.

What do you want your audience to take away from this film?

Hamy and Rungano: There are many possibilities and we, as directors, both believe that if a film provides all the answers then, what’s the point. We both dislike giving all the answers, even if we know the reasons. The idea is for people to watch it and discuss. We both agreed that we didn’t want to spoon feed the reasons and motivations to the audience.

Valeria: We have received a lot of positive feedback over the now over two years, namely how the film is being used in so many contexts, and also how it offers different audiences different things. In just thirteen minutes, it manages to bring out many angles and questions.

We are all humans, whatever uniform or role we operate under, and that demands a lot of integrity and awareness to keep listening, to stay open, and to want to understand other people. That it is not easy for anyone around that table in the film, and they are all part of creating the situation. These things happen and we need to talk about them, and be aware of them, so that we can make changes.

What are you two working on now, together or individually?

Hamy: I’m working on my first feature film. It is in the development stage and we are still very much focused on the story, even though I’ve been working on it since 2014. Rungano and I have written a few different versions of the story. I’ve also been developing the story on my own for a while now, as I believe Rungano is currently filming or editing her own first feature film. If everything goes as planned, I will be shooting CITIZEN B (working title) in 2018.

Valeria: We are really thrilled about “Listen” being selected at Staff Pick Premiere on Vimeo and hope that the story will create and spread more ripples around the world. Thank you!

Thanks so much for your time and for making this important film, Hamy, Rungano, Valeria, and Valeria’s producing partner, Helene Granqvist!

If you’d like to see more films our curation team was totally stoked on, check out our past Staff Pick Premieres over on this page.

Interested in premiering your short film as a Staff Pick Premiere? Please email premieres@vimeo.com for more information.

Originally published at Vimeo.com