Interpreters are frequent visitors to high profile conferences and ceremonies but often remain behind the scenes, or inconspicuously hidden in plain sight, however, this year’s Oscars saw interpreter Sharon Choi centre front on the stage as she translated for Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho.
Bong, director of the film “Parasite” was on stage to collect not one, but four Oscars on Sunday 9th February, including; best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature.
His interpreter, Sharon Choi, a film maker herself, was by his side at each acceptance speech with a calm attitude, steady voice and a ready smile. She also went on stage a fifth time to interpret for Kwak Sin Ae, a producer, in her speech for the film’s best picture win.
Choi has been alongside Bong throughout his phenomenal awards season and has interpreted at numerous interviews, ceremonies and TV shows.
She has attended red carpet events, late-night TV talk shows, and travelled around the world with Bong since May when “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
According to The Guardian, Choi, a Korean-American interpreter currently living in Seoul, has become “indispensable” to Bong and has somehow managed to steal the limelight form the now famous movie director with her “all-black ensemble and cute Harry Potter specs, or maybe it was the flawless simultaneous translation”.
Choi has single-handedly managed to raise the profile of interpreters around the world with her calm demeanour, excellent memory, superb linguistic skills and appealing personality, even though she seems to find the attention “embarrassing” according to a recent article in The New York Times.
Very few other interpreters manage to achieve fame (in their own right) for their work, but those that do such as, Massoumeh Lahidji, the Iranian-born, French-based interpreter who has translated for the likes of Martin Scorsese and Elia Suleiman at the Cannes Film Festival over the last 12 years, interpreting has become an art form to be admired, revered and celebrated.
Perfect interpreting occurs when there is symbiosis between the speaker and the interpreter – a connection which allows mutual respect for each other’s talents and an understanding for cultural and linguistic nuances and perspectives.
At Creative Word we believe that an effective interpreter is one who has not only an innate skill for languages but who also is immersed within the culture and people so they make informed linguistic choices appropriate for the audience and speaker.
If you would like to talk to us about your interpreting requirements, please contact us here.
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