In the car with Oliver Schmitz's Hijack stories (2000): The journey of a South African film in translation

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This research report follows the journey of the South African film Hijack Stories (2000) in translation, looking at the various processes – state, institutional and individual - which led to the film’s existence. The context of the South African film industry (institution) during the country’s (state) apartheid past and democratic present have influenced those involved (the individuals) in the film-making process as well as their subjectivities. It is revealed that Hijack Stories (2000) is a film targeted at foreign audiences and that these audiences ascribe value to South African content. This value is acquired on the basis of the historical and social circumstances of South Africa, which has long sustained the interest of the outside world. Hijack Stories (2000) emerges as a cultural commodity, packaged and marketed according to the imaginings that the world has of South Africa. Translation then takes place at the junction of these processes and their related social, financial, political and historical factors, thereby facilitating the international circulation of Hijack Stories (2000) within the greater context of globalisation.