PODCAST| Angelo Acerbi interviews Shireen Seno, director of the film Nervous Translation.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

Shireen Seno took a lot from his personal story to build up the characters in the film; the social distance from the Philippinos who left their country to live abroad (mainly in Japan) and those who stayed was something she experienced. The young actress who played the main character has been a blessing and a challenge too…

Nervous Translation: Late 1988, post-dictatorship Philippines. Eight-year-old Yael, shy to a fault, lives in her own private world. Left to her own devices while her mother assembles shoes at the local shoe factory, Yael cooks miniature meals with her mini stove for herself. In the evenings, when her mother gets home after work, Yael watches soap operas on television with her; these are the rare moments when they have a physical bond. Yael only knows her father through his voice, through voice letters in the form of cassette tapes which he sends back from Saudi Arabia.