'Three Songs for Benazir,' a short documentary, is nominated for an Oscar

'Three Songs for Benazir,' a short documentary, is nominated for an Oscar

Transcript¹

Three Songs for Benazir takes place in a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan. The film, nominated for an Academy Award, is directed by Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The documentary called "Three Songs For Benazir" opens with a shot of the sky. A giant white blimp, a U.S. military surveillance balloon, floats high above a sprawling³ camp in Kabul, Afghanistan. It monitors hundreds of Afghans now internally displaced because of the war in their country.

ELIZABETH MIRZAEI: There was a lot of families there - you know, several hundred kind of makeshift houses made of mud and tents. And every year we watched it grow larger and larger as more and more people were displaced by the war. There is no running water. There's no electricity. People are living in really dire² situations. But there is also - we found there is love in the camp, just like anywhere else.

MARTIN: That's the voice of filmmaker Elizabeth Mirzaei. She and her husband Gulistan visited the camp when they lived in Kabul. Gulistan, who himself fled war during the Soviet⁴ military's invasion of Afghanistan, found a special connection with a young married couple in the camp named Shaista and Benazir.

GULISTAN MIRZAEI: There is something so beautiful in the relationship between Shaista and Benazir, something I had never seen on a film from my country before. A story about my country, usually about war, violence. I want to tell a love story and show something people have never seen from my country before.

MARTIN: Gulistan and Elizabeth Mirzaei's film "Three Songs For Benazir" is nominated for an Academy Award.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR")

SHAISTA: (Singing in Pashto).

BENAZIR: (Laughter). (Speaking Pashto).

MARTIN: The opening scene is so beautiful and so intimate. Can you describe it, Elizabeth?

E MIRZAEI: Well, we actually opened with the security balloon in the sky, and then it goes into - behind the walls of Shaista's home with Benazir. And Shaista is serenading Benazir with a love song. I'm actually not sure if he made it up.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

E MIRZAEI: But it's a beautiful song in Pashto. And it's just about, you know, how much he adores his wife. But we filmed it not actually knowing what he was saying because Gulistan and I both speak Dari, but we don't speak much Pashto. And so most of the time Shais and Benazir would speak to another in Pashto. So we knew that even without understanding the meaning, we felt there was something beautiful about this moment. It was just the simplest of things.

MARTIN: Let's talk about that security balloon. It's mentioned a couple different times. At one point, Shaista explains it to Benazir. She's like, what is that thing? And, I mean, you couldn't have come up with something more poignant⁵, right? It is the Americans looking down, examining every inch of their home.

E MIRZAEI: Yeah. The balloon was pretty much, I feel, in the sky all the time. There was only, I think, two instances I can remember when I saw one of the balloons, just this gigantic object, grounded. And it was really just unsettling to see it that close up. In the camp, it's essentially⁶ hovering⁷ right above Shaista's house. And for us, it really represented and symbolized⁸ the disconnect that exists in the war in Afghanistan and, I would say, in most wars as well, that there's this, you know, foreign, highly advanced technological⁹ contraption in the sky, this cold device, you know, disconnected, impersonal¹⁰, monitoring everything. And it touched on the idea of looking versus¹¹ actually seeing and how that balloon with its many devices registers Shaista and Benazir just kind of as fragments or, you know, blips on a radar¹², and then with the camera bringing you instead beyond that, into this home with this young couple who are in love.

MARTIN: Last August, Gulistan, what was it like for you watching the U.S. evacuate¹³, the chaos¹⁴ of that, the Taliban come in and take control?

E MIRZAEI: You can speak in - if you want to speak in English or Dari, whichever you're more comfortable.

G MIRZAEI: (Speaking Dari).

E MIRZAEI: Gulistan says, "it was one of the darkest and most bitter days of my life. I couldn't believe that my country could fall apart so quickly and that 20 years of assistance from the world would just get lit on fire like that."

G MIRZAEI: (Speaking Dari).

MARTIN: What has happened to Benazir and Shaista?

G MIRZAEI: (Speaking Dari).

E MIRZAEI: Gulistan says, "they're in Afghanistan, and we are sending them support. And as you know, the situation is very, very hard in Afghanistan right now. People are living without any jobs. And it's like they're kind of trapped in a cage, and people are again trying to leave the country."

G MIRZAEI: (Speaking Dari).

MARTIN: The film has been nominated for an Oscar for best documentary in the short subject category. Is it doing what you wanted it to do in terms of telling people outside of Afghanistan what life is like there?

E MIRZAEI: Well, I think, one, it's been amazing for the film to be nominated for an Oscar. You know, we started this, like, with no idea that would, you know, ever happen. It feels particularly important, you know, at this time to have this take really be at the front of audiences' experience because the world right now is contending with so many - you know, multiple wars, and there's multiple breakdowns¹⁵ in people's capacity to empathize with the, quote-unquote, "other."

MARTIN: Yeah.

E MIRZAEI: And I think that's something that Gulistan and I can both speak to because in our relationship, we embody¹⁶ this unique situation where on the one side, Gulistan is Afghan, and we can see what's happening in Afghanistan right now. And on the other side, I'm Ukrainian and what's happening in Ukraine. And so we just think that's not an accident, that this film is a reason for us to speak about how we can look at people who are othered as though in a way that, you know, war coverage¹⁷ of bombs and everything else that's happening in the news front, which is really important and necessary - but it's - this is part of a different long-term view.

MARTIN: My God, Elizabeth, I didn't know you're Ukrainian.

E MIRZAEI: Yeah. I don't have any family there anymore. But, yes, that's my background.

MARTIN: It's a lot for both of you to absorb then, watching those ancestral homes change in this way.

E MIRZAEI: Yeah.

MARTIN: Well, we so appreciate you both talking to us. Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei, thank you so much.

E MIRZAEI: Thank you, Rachel.

G MIRZAEI: Thank you so much, Rachel, for talking with us.

MARTIN: The film is called "Three Songs For Benazir." It is nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary in the short subject category.

(SOUNDBITE OF QAIS ESSAR SONG FROM "THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR" SOUNDTRACK)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

3 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

8 symbolized   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• For Tigress, Joy symbolized the best a woman could expect from life. 在她看，小福子就足代表女人所应有的享受。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• A car symbolized distinction and achievement, and he was proud. 汽车象征着荣誉和成功，所以他很自豪。 来自辞典例句

9 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

10 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

11 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

12 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

13 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

15 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

16 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

17 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。