From Omeleto.
An interpreter has a tough day.
THE INTERPRETER is used with permission from Andrea M. Catinella. Learn more at https://bastetproductions.com.
Belma is a Turkish interpreter going through a romantic crisis when she’s asked to fill in for someone who interprets for patients in a London hospital. She’s deft with languages, but working in the National Health Service is challenging in other ways.
She’s asked to translate for a mentally ill woman and an unsympathetic doctor, and the resulting violence in the encounter is traumatic for her. But there’s little time to recover before her conversation between an elderly man whose wife is dying in the hospital and an overworked doctor. The exchange is draining and wrenching in a different way — one that causes her to look at her own life in a new light.
Directed by Andrea M. Catinella from a script written by Yasmine Alice, who also plays the role of Belma, this compelling short drama highlights a supporting player in the medical field whose work is rarely portrayed: the interpreter, who serves as a bridge between staff and patient during one of the most high-stress, challenging situations of a patient’s life. Like snapshots in an album, the narrative charts Belma’s workday as she faces two sets of doctors and patients, both challenging in different ways. Both encounters are riveting and even life-changing for the humble interpreter.
Shot with a subdued, muted and cool-toned palette and a composed eye, the storytelling is sturdy and well-paced as we are introduced to Belma, who is dealing with a possible breakup before heading into her work. She’s having a crisis in her personal life, but she can’t dwell on it when she’s launched into the intensity of the hospital, where she must serve as an intermediary in very stressful situations. The lucid, textured writing captures each scenario and its characters with focus and clarity, with a keen, compassionate eye for the power dynamics between the doctors and the often helpless or bewildered patients they work with. We can sense the pressures of the medical professionals and witness their fallout on the patients and families.
Through it all, Belma is the center and the audience proxy, and actor Yasmine Alice plays her as an open, observing and empathetic presence. She is supposed to remain on the sidelines as a neutral bystander, but her job requires her to understand the parties she is translating for — not just their words, but their intent. She’s a buffer, absorbing emotions and intentions. In situations that are tense and even violent, she takes in trauma, despite her position on the sidelines. But when she’s translating during a particularly vulnerable, aching moment, she absorbs emotions and insights that might change her life.
Compelling and compassionate, THE INTERPRETER notes that people in Belma’s position and profession do not need qualifications or training to work, and they also do not receive any training or aftercare from employers. But with its emotionally immersive storytelling and its unique vantage point, it makes the case that interpreters aren’t neutral sideline presences in the sometimes loaded environments they work in, but are often profoundly affected by what they witness and participate in. They deserve consideration and care, and to be acknowledged for the work they do.
