http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/reel-drama-more-fiction-than-fact-or-lost-in-translation/2009/07/12/1247337022664.html


July 13, 2009

Reel drama more fiction than fact or lost in translation?

Questions persist over the veracity of a slavery film, writes Louise Schwartzkoff.

THE disputed documentary Stolen is full of mistranslations and incorrect subtitles, a translator who worked on the film, Oumar Sy, says.

The Bondi filmmakers, Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw, claim slavery exists in Western Saharan refugee camps.

Controversy surrounded a screening of the film at last month's Sydney Film Festival, when one of the main subjects, Faitim Salam, left the refugees camps at Tindouf in Algeria to protest against the documentary's claims.

Ayala and Fallshaw stood by the film, saying it had been verified by three separate translators including Sy, who works as a Hassaniya Arabic to English translator for the United States Immigration Court.

Sy went through the film with the documentary makers in February, pointing out several mistakes in their subtitles.

He said Ayala and Fallshaw wrote down his corrections and promised to alter the subtitles. They arranged to meet for a screening of the final cut, but cancelled the appointment.

"They told me they would send a copy of the film for me to check, but they didn't," Sy says from New York. "They didn't respect their commitment to me. I was surprised and disappointed."

He saw the final version of the film for the first time last week and was shocked at its inaccuracy. "There is still a lot of work to do on the film," he says. "The translation I put on paper was correct. I went through [the film] minute by minute, but a lot of the mistakes have not been changed."

In one scene Salam's mother and sister appear to confirm that she is a slave to her white foster mother. More recent translations show they are discussing Ayala, who they say has misunderstood the family relationships.

Another problem was that some of the film's dialogue was in a local dialect that Sy could not understand. "If you don't live locally, you cannot understand what they say," he says...

hey yaddass you finally decided to post with your id again..
havnt seen you here since 2007...when you posted 4 or 5 posts about morroco...whats that 5 posts now..[in two years...lol]

couldnt be bothered reading it..but sounds like much the same distortions your pedling arround again now eh...mate realise what a film is..ie fiction..al gores film is full of fiction...but you didnt bother correcting them lies

mate globally slavery is a huge issue...people need to know about...your not saying you,..your saying someone else..[who may or may not have been threatend..[or misquoted by some racist slavery nutter]..not wanting light shone on the issue

one needs wonder why your posting with your rarely used id...no doudt part of a racist..dis-info group..going by your 5 other posts..

your into slavery as well..[how you feel about eugenics..?..or child stealing...cant wait to see what your 6 th post will be about..to see if there is a pattern developing

Yeah, can't people see that Kamal's article is a complete beat-up? I'm amazed that the SMH published it; and that Online Opinion has published this stuff here as well.

I've been reading some of the other blogs and couldn't count how many accusations were put over this film. None of them appear to make any sense to me. The filmmakers are accused of paying the characters if that is the case, the translations shouldn't be spot on?

The main character came to the premier to denounce the film, and she showed her passport at the Q/A to prove her freedom. Her passport was issued only 10 days before arriving in Australia. By the way, her flight was paid by the Polisario. Why was she protesting before even seen the film?

The Polisario representative keeps quoting the HRW Report as his prove, but the report concludes that vestiges of slavery that affect the black minority exist in the camps and more research needs to be done in the subject. mmmmm?

The translator issue, in the filmmakers press release they note that the first time they heard about his concerns, was on an e-mail copied to the representatives of the Polisario. MMMMMMMMMMM?

'Mr. Fadel adds “we call on the Melbourne Film Festival to reconsider the screening of the film until its translation is independently verified by a native speaker of Hassania from Western Sahara.'
mmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM? Perhaps he would like to verify the translations himself?

'Fadel says the case against the film's veracity is mounting.' Who is mounting the case against Stolen's veracity?

THERE IS A BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

LETTER SENT TO VIOLETA AND DAN, DIRECTORS OF STOLEN FROM THE UN:

“Dear both of you,

I understood that despite my written request to you for my formal clearance to use my voice or face in your documentary in the Tindouf camps you went ahead without my clearance, which I formally want to protest about. The release form you gave me for my signature is still with me...

I strongly protest about the way you manipulated my one hour (or longer) interview in your film and the short compilation of sentences (in 2 minutes) of what I said.

As you will recall and recorded I assume, I stated clearly from the very beginning and on several occasions throughout the interview that never any case of slavery has been brought to the attention of UNHCR (which obviously you did not like and made you very aggressive creating a very stressful interview situation, at least Violeta, not Dan). I also stated: IF there would have been any cases about that practice in the camps being brought to the attention of UNHCR we WOULD have brought it to the attention of the police forces in the camps as an abuse of human rights, but as this never happened, there was no need for it.

While you were continuing focussing on slavery practices in the camps only, I explained to you that can not be an issue to the camps only, but it’s an issue to be seen in a regional, traditional and cultural practice which will take long time to completely eradicate. This was the only moment I mentioned the camps as, per se, they are part of the sub-region. Again, you manipulated theses statements in the most abusive way and took them out of their context for your own purposes.

I am ready to clarify and correct this to whom ever is asking me.

Ursula.
Ursula S.Aboubacar
Deputy Director
Bureau for Middle East and North Africa”

Fay, I'm wondering at the purpose of posting Ursula's letter. Is it a defense of the Polisario cause? Does it support of the Polisario's denial of slavery? Or, is it intended to discredit the film makers?

It shows that Ursula S.Aboubacar is careful how she minces her words. She refers to slavery existing in Tindouf, while seeking to minimise the issue, by dismissing it as a traditional cultural practice in the wider sub-region.

From what Ursula says, the persistence of slavery in Tindouf is old news to her, however it would be alarming news to most Australians. Like myself, people in Australia are interested to know that someone has made a film on this subject; and many would want to inform themselves by seeing the film.

Ursula's letter provides one side of a story. In the interests of natural justice the film makers side also needs to be heard. It didn't take long to turn up a link to a brief transcript posted on the Internet late last month, of a verbatim report from the interview Ursula refers to in her letter. It is here:

http://newmatilda.com/media/UNStolen.pdf

The transcript indicates that the film makers had gained the impression that in said interview with Ursuala, Ursula was paying lip service to the issue of slavery and was seeking to minimise the problem. It is obvious that Ursula neither owns the problem nor does she identify any plans for addressing it despite being asked repeatedly about this.

Ursula's response suggests that addressing human rights abuses of refugees is not the role of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees); which may have come as a surprise to the film makers, just as it has come as a surprise to me, given that the UNHCR website says:

The protection of 34.4 million uprooted or stateless people is the core mandate of UNHCR.

In future I will look more carefully at reports like the one below, which refers to the UN as corrupt, unco-operative and ineffective; and which appears to be from a reputable source:

http://media.www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2004/10/08/EdOp/United.Nations.Corrupt.Uncooperative.Ineffective-747393.shtm