Abstract for “Self-translation and Multilingualism in Autobiographic Documentaries—Forget Baghdad (2002) and Iraqi Odyssey (2014)”

Sofia Iberg, University Pompeu Fabra

Iraq has experienced turmoils at different times of its history that have led its population to migrate. Some of the stories of migration are picked up and brought to the screen by the Swiss-Iraqi film director Samir. The films Forget Baghdad (2002) and Iraqi Odyssey (2014) portray Iraqi people who have migrated from the country at different points of Iraq’s history and who are now living all over the world. Their story is put into context through the narration by the director and through the use of film and newsreel excerpts.

This presentation explores the use of language by the director and by the interviewees. The main language of both documentaries is English, but the languages of the interviews vary: in Forget Baghdad the interviewees speak Arabic and English whilst in Iraqy Odyssey Arabic, English, German and Russian are spoken. At the same time, those languages also appear visually as printed captions and on the film poster.

The aim of this presentation is to show how languages tell a story of migration, linking works in literary self-translation to the peculiarities of audiovisual products and focusing on subtitles that are accessible on the VOD platform Vimeo.

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