Documentary Filmmaking and Multilingualism – A Dialogue on Practice: Interview with Dr Alastair Cole, Senior Lecturer in Film Practice, Newcastle University, UK

Abstract

This interview explores Alastair Cole’s multilingual documentary filmmaking as a research practice that contributes to minority language rights, revitalisation, and ethnopolitical visibility. It argues that documentary cinema offers unique insights into linguistic hierarchies, code-switching, and the lived effects of language policy. Case studies such as Colours of the Alphabet and Iorram demonstrate how film engages with colonial legacies, educational systems, and cultural preservation. The article also highlights emerging digital environments – VOD platforms, social media video, and generative AI – that expand access to multilingual subtitling and circulation, while raising ethical questions around representation and translation. It concludes that documentary cinema can function as both research method and advocacy tool, supporting minority language communities and informing policy discourse.