The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2018 - 14

FEATURE

BY JUDY JENNER
in 1940, to Brazil by way of New
York. Finding only growing loneliness
and disillusionment in their new
surroundings, he and his second wife
committed suicide in 1942. Stefan
Zweig: Farewell to Europe focuses on
the author's years in exile, his inner
struggle for the "right attitude" toward
the events in war-torn Europe, and

This was exactly the kind of
high-pressure situation that
interpreters are trained to
handle, nerves and all.

The Interpreter on the Big Screen
What's it like to play an interpreter on the big screen? Alexandra Reuer
got a chance to do just that!

A

few months ago I had the
pleasure of traveling to
Austria, in part to attend the
festivities organized for International
Translation Day by the UNIVERSITAS
Austria Interpreters' and Translators'
Association. In addition to an
architectural walking tour of the city, a
one-day conference, fantastic reception,
and other events, the association
had also planned a screening of
Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe, a
film featuring one of our interpreter
colleagues playing an actual interpreter.
As a special surprise, UNIVERSITAS
was going to fly in that interpreter (and
now actress), the wonderful Alexandra
Reuer, from Bristol, England, for the
screening as their guest of honor. I

14

The ATA Chronicle | March/April 2018

had read about Alex's role in the ITI
Bulletin, the publication of the Institute
of Translation and Interpreting, before
and wanted to meet her to talk about
the film.1
In case you're unfamiliar with the
film, here's a bit about the story. Stefan
Zweig: Farewell to Europe (German
title: Vor der Morgenröte) is a 2016
internationally co-produced drama
directed by Maria Schrader about the
acclaimed Austrian author Stefan Zweig.
Born in Vienna in 1881, Zweig achieved
distinction in several genres-poetry,
essays, short stories, and dramas-
most notably for his interpretations of
imaginary and historical characters. In
1934, driven into exile by the Nazis,
he emigrated to England and then,

his search for a new home. The film
was Austria's official entry for the Best
Foreign Language Film category at the
89th Academy Awards in 2017, but was
not nominated.2
During the film, Zweig is interviewed
by the international press at the height
of his career and fame. The questions
are posed in Spanish, English, and
French, and Zweig answers in his native
German. That's where the interpreters
come in, who play a relatively large
role in the film. Alex is even featured
in the trailer.
Alex, a native of Germany, is
a German, Spanish, and English
interpreter and translator specializing
in law, human rights, environmental
and social justice issues, and policies
of the European Union. She has lived
and worked in England for the better
part of a decade. I was fortunate enough
to be able to chat with Alex after the
screening over a few glasses of sparkling
wine. We bonded over our fondness for
Vienna, gender-inclusive language, the
professionalization of our industry, and,
of course, the film.

You looked fantastic in the movie! I'm
so pleased to see that the director cast
actual interpreters for the interpreter
roles instead of going with the more
obvious choice: actors. Can you tell us

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2018
