A film commemmorates 50 years of translation and interpreting at the UAB

Entitled 1972-2022. Història de la FTI a dotze veus, the film recounts the origins and development of the centre through the testimonies of those who were appointed directors of the EUTI or deans of the Faculty. The current dean, Olga Torres, and professor, former dean and director of the film Albert Branchadell presented it as a synthesis "of 165,000 hours in 55 minutes" in which, in the words of Dean Torres, the particular stories of each one "form the great story of the UAB". Torres and Branchadell thanked the collaboration of the faculty and PAS members involved in the project, as well as the collaboration of the Rector's Office and the work done by the Audiovisual and Multimedia Unit.

UAB Rector Javier Lafuente participated in the event, in which he praised the Faculty as a "leading" and "pioneering" centre in the academic field of translation and interpreting. He wished a happy anniversary to the members of the Faculty and pointed to the future, stating that "today is the first day of the next fifty years". In the same line, Dean Torres also declared that the presentation of the film closed the cycle of activities commemorating 50 years, but represented both "the end of a period and the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the faculty".

The first centre of its kind

Branchadell presented the people featured in the film by stating: "these people had to come up with everything themselves because there were no translation faculties". Indeed, by being founded in 1972, the EUTI was the first university teaching centre for translation in Spain, when the legislation did not provide for any other type of language-related teaching other than traditional language schools. Twenty years later, in 1992, EUTI also became the first Spanish university translation school to become a faculty. In the same year, the current building housing the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting was inaugurated.

Throughout these fifty years, among other milestones, the Faculty has been a pioneering centre in the implementation of studies and research into East Asia; it has been home to the headquarters of the Confucius Institute, the King Sejong Institute, the Camões Institute and the UAB Office of Japanese Studies - JF Sakura Network, and has promoted the creation of the Giovanni Pontiero (Portuguese) and Marcela de Juan (Chinese) translation awards. In addition, with 10% of foreign students enrolled in its undergraduate programmes, 40% in its master's degree programmes and a wide participation in exchange programmes, it is the most internationalised teaching centre at the UAB.

The film can be viewed at the following link: 1972-2022. Història de la FTI a dotze veus