美国国家公共电台 NPR 2017 Oscars: Nominations For Documentary Category Upends Genre

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And finally today, let's talk Oscars. If you're like millions of Americans, you might be spending your Sunday evening tuning¹ into the annual celebration of Hollywood's offerings. And while there's been all the usual buzz around the Best Picture category and the acting² awards, we wanted to take a few minutes to talk about this year's documentary nominees³.

This year, the documentary category is filled with work that refreshes maybe even upends the genre⁴. For example, one of the nominees "O.J. Made In America" is not a traditional feature-length film, but an eight-hour long miniseries. There's "I Am Not Your Negro," a meditation⁵ on race relations through the words of writer James Baldwin.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO")

JAMES BALDWIN: The future of a negro in this country is precisely⁶ as bright or as dark as the future of the country.

MARTIN: "13th" makes the connection between the Amendment⁷ abolishing slavery and mass incarceration⁸ in the U.S. Last year, I spoke⁹ with the film's director Ava DuVernay.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

AVA DUVERNAY: The idea behind "13th" is to give people that context so that we don't make uninformed statements that we can all work from a place of knowledge to try to get to a place where we just do better as Americans.

MARTIN: The documentary "Life Animated¹⁰" tells the story of how Disney movies helped an autistic boy learn to communicate. And finally, there's "Fire At Sea" which documents the European migrant crisis from the vantage point of an Italian island in the thick of it. Here's director Gianfranco Rosi from a conversation we had last fall.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

GIANFRANCO ROSI: When I was there, Lampedusa became like - almost a microcosm, a metaphor¹¹ of what Europe is right now, you know? This is a world that we don't know, and we never have really chance of meeting and interacting with. So there's always a separation between our world and this world that is coming.

MARTIN: To learn more about this year's lineup and what it means, we called Nina Gilden Seavey. She's director of the George Washington University Documentary Center. Nina Gilden Seavey, thanks so much for joining us.

NINA GILDEN SEAVEY, BYLINE¹²: Michel, it's great to see you.

MARTIN: You know, it seems as though these films have broken through to the public in a way that documentaries sometimes don't. Do you think that that's true? And why do you think that is?

SEAVEY: Well, I think, first of all, you know, we keep saying and we have been saying since the Civil War with Ken¹³ Burns that this is the golden era of documentary. And it's not getting any less golden. In fact, I think people are just consumed by wanting to know real stories. It's not to say that somehow dramatic filmmaking is falling off because it's not. But I think our hunger for stories has gotten so intense that it has driven this industry.

If you take a look, for example, at "O.J. Made In America" - as you say, big, epic¹⁴ documentary - seven and a half hours, five parts. ESPN backed it. Little bit of a question whether it's really television or film. I mean, they did a qualifying run in both New York and LA. But what is the most amazing thing to me is "I Am Not Your Negro," which to be honest - it's about James Baldwin, a writer who many of us have forgotten through the years. Some of us read it in, you know, our English or philosophy classes or whatnot in college. But that film currently is being played in multiplexes, and these are sold-out shows.

And we have never seen this kind of surge of interest of people wanting to understand those words of Baldwin's and the meaning behind what is this issue of race that we have so totally misbegotten?

MARTIN: What do you think this means? I mean, one of the things that, you know, I know is that stylistically all the nominees are very different, and yet they're all kind of breaking through in their own way. And I'm wondering if you think the arrival of players like Netflix and Amazon - does that have something to do with raising the profile of documentaries?

SEAVEY: Well, I think it's a couple of things. One, by the time you get nominated for an Oscar, there - winnowing¹⁵ process of the thousands of films that are out there has already - it's over. And these films are - each one of them truly spectacular. So that sort of goes without saying. But what has happened with Amazon, Netflix, ESPN, HBO, PBS - all of these various kind of players in this field now is that it's been almost like a shot of adrenaline.

And you have, first of all, a lot of people making documentary films which, you know, is - can be a good thing or a bad thing. But it's also upped the game. It means that you cannot rest on your laurels¹⁶. If you take a look at "13th," I mean, there have been many films about slavery and its aftermath. But Ava DuVernay's approach just sparkles and has meaning in a way that brought it into a larger sort of context. It allowed us to see something that was much more synthetic¹⁷. So every single one of these has somehow added to the dialogue in ways that could not have been predicted.

MARTIN: And speaking of what perhaps could not have been predicted, the fact that four of the five nominated filmmakers are African-American.

SEAVEY: Yeah.

MARTIN: How do you read that, you know, coming on the heels of this debate over the last couple of years over, you know, Oscar so white and the criticism that the Academy has received over its selection process?

SEAVEY: Well, first of all, you have to know that Oscar so white really has to do in that sense with the in front of and behind the camera primarily out of Hollywood. Documentary filmmaking is just a different context than the rest of the filmmaking world. In Hollywood, I always say it's dog eat dog. In documentary I always say it's puppy eat puppy. The stakes are a lot lower. The doors are a lot more open.

We see many, many, many more women in documentary than we would ever see in narrative¹⁸ filmmaking. We see people of color whether they're Asians, African-American, Indians all kinds of people who come to this with a voice because of the barriers to entry are so much lower. In this case, I think this is, you know, sort of a colorblind neutral. These are phenomenal films, and the fact that they are people of color makes us feel richer for the experience.

MARTIN: That's Nina Gilden Seavey. She's the director of the George Washington University Documentary Center. She was kind enough to join us in our studios here in Washington, D.C. And if you want to know more about these films, actually several programs at NPR covered all of these films at some point. So you can look for more information about each of the nominees at npr.org.

MARTIN: Nina Gilden Seavey, thanks so much for speaking with us.

SEAVEY: Thank you, Michel. It's always a pleasure.

MARTIN: We can start popping the popcorn¹⁹ now.

SEAVEY: I'm on my way to the movie theater.

1 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

5 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

11 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

12 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

13 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

14 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

15 winnowing   

v.扬( winnow的现在分词 )；辨别；选择；除去

参考例句：

• The petrel came winnowing in from afar on the sea. 海燕从遥远的地方振翼飞来。 来自辞典例句
• He is winnowing wheat now. 他现在正在簸小麦。 来自辞典例句

16 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

17 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

18 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

19 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。