James
Job Title
Assistant Editor
Company and location
Sight & Sound magazine, British Film Institute
Industry sector
Creative and media
What does your job involve?
Commissioning film reviews, features and news stories. Writing interviews, articles etc. I’m based in London but travel to film festivals all over the world.
Why and how did you get into that area of work?
I’ve always had a strong interest in films and writing about films. I did a degree in History then started a Masters in Film Studies. Before I’d completed it, though, I was offered an internship at Sight & Sound. They asked me to stay on and I’ve been here for five years.
How did you gain your language skills?
I did French at school to A level and took some French history options at university which helped keep up my reading skills. Going on trips to France when I was at school made the biggest difference, though. I once spent a week at an outward bound camp in the Auvergne. There were no English-speaking kids there, only French. Because of the stuff we were doing we had lots to talk about - and of course it all had to be in French. My French wasn’t brilliant but that gave me confidence.
How do you use your languages at work?
English tends to be the common language at international film festivals but speaking some French gives me opportunities I’d never have if I only spoke English. I’ve been to Paris and done press interviews in French. Earlier this year, I got the chance to go to Africa’s biggest film festival, FESPACO. It takes place in Burkina Faso in West Africa - one of the poorest countries in the world but the hub of the African film industry! No-one there spoke any English but everyone spoke French. I spent two weeks there, watching films and interviewing local filmmakers. I visited students at a film school and watched them work, which was really interesting. There’s no way I could gone there and done that without understanding and speaking some French.
Best experience of using your language skills in your job?
When I was at FESPACO I met a girl from the Ivory Coast. She had some neighbours who, because of the political situation, had never been able to go back to their home village in Burkina Faso. She had filmed them giving a message to their old friends and we travelled to the village together to show the film. At first, they were suspicious of us but then when they saw the film they were overjoyed. We filmed them giving a reply to their old friends, which my friend took back with her. They were so happy they gave me a live chicken to say thank you! It was an amazing experience. If I hadn’t been able to speak French I would have sat on the edge not knowing what was going on. Instead, I could chat to them about their lives.
Any tips?
If you want to go into any kind of journalism – not just the intrepid, reporting from the front stuff – it’s a huge advantage to have language skills. It opens up the world and lets you speak to people you’d never normally have the chance to speak to. When you’re learning a language, just try to speak it and use it as much as you can. Don’t worry about not being perfect – my French isn’t that accurate but I get the point across!