A television network in the US was producing a documentary on Rwanda. They had collected hours of video recordings in Kinyarwandan. In order to create the documentary, they needed to know what was being said in each of the recordings. They needed to edit their footage down to a one-hour documentary and include all the relevant material. Put simply, they wanted all the material summarized verbally on the spot. This was neither interpreting nor a translation project in the formal sense. It combined elements of both and required linguists who were familiar with the political and social context of that country.
Given the timeline, our project managers worked quickly to come up with a successful solution. They selected a team of native-speaking linguists who were currently in the US and sent them to the studio to work with the production team. They reviewed and explained the contents of the video material. By highlighting specific subject matter, our linguists were able to help the production team put the documentary together, ensuring that all the important material was included.
