VOA标准英语2009年-Amreeka Tells Story of Strangers in a Stra

By Saqib ul-Islam
Washington
12 October 2009

 
Amreeka's stars, pictured on the movie's promotional poster
What is it like for a mother and her teenage son to settle in America? And what if they are Palestinian and their arrival coincides with the onset¹ of the 1991 Gulf² war in which a U.S.-led coalition³ fought Iraq?  A new film, Amreeka, recently opened in U.S. theaters, and it answers these and other questions about life in America for those from a very different part of the world. Saqib ul-Islam of VOA's Urdu Service spoke⁴ with the writer and director of the film, Cherien Dabis, to learn more about Amreeka and the woman who made it.

The subject matter is serious, but Amreeka is surprisingly warm and in places even lighthearted. 

Writer and director Cherien Dabis says the film is based on her experiences during the early days of the Gulf War in 1991, when she was 14. Her Palestinian/Jordanian parents had immigrated⁵ to the American Midwest several years earlier.  Before the war, the family - Dabis, her mother, father, and an older sister -- lived a rather typical American life. Her father, a doctor, had a successful practice, but everything changed when the war came. Dabis explains:

 
Amreeka Writer-Director, Cherien Dabis
"Basically, a lot of what happens in the movie is what happened to us in 1991. My father, who is a physician, lost a lot of his patients during the war because people didn't want to see an Arab doctor," she said. 

"And we got death threats, much like what happened in the film. And, actually what happened in real life was sort of even worse. The Secret Service showed up at my high school to investigate a rumor⁶ than my 17-year-old sister threatened to kill the president," she added.

Dabis says that her experiences as an Arab-American during the first Gulf War made her want to do something to help change the image of Arabs in the United States. She decided⁷ that film would be the best way to reach across different cultures and touch a lot of people. In September of 2001, she went to New York City to begin film school.

"I actually found myself in New York, just days before 9/11. I had just moved there for film school at Columbia University. And, you know, it just reminded me of what my family went through," she said. "I was seeing it in New York. And I was reading a lot of stories of Americans of Middle Eastern descent, or just Americans who looked like they were of Middle Eastern descent, being targeted and scapegoated⁸. And I thought it's really time that we have our own immigrant story. A tale about people who come to this country expecting the American dream and are met with something different, partially⁹ because of the political climate," she said.

But Amreeka does not dwell on politics or religion. Its focus is on the highs and lows of a Palestinian mother and son as they try to build new lives in a new country at a most difficult time.  Dabis says that, rather than heavy drama, she wanted to highlight the humor and absurdity¹⁰ in a story that all people, wherever they come from, could relate to. 

"We, the Arab-American community in particular, really realized, I think, that there was really a sense of urgency about us needing to tell our stories, because … we were so largely misrepresented or underrepresented, that it just felt like now is the time," said Dabis. 

Amreeka made its world premiere this year at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and was also screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, to overwhelmingly positive reviews. And as for its writer-director, Variety Magazine - perhaps the most important publication of the U.S. entertainment industry - has named her one of the 10 directors to watch in 2009. In years to come, it looks like Cherien Dabis will have many opportunities to tell many stories.

1 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 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。

5 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

6 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 scapegoated   

v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• As employees gathered around television sets Friday, they groused about getting scapegoated in Washington. 高盛员工周五聚集在电视机前收看相关消息，他们抱怨说自己成了华盛顿的替罪羊。 来自互联网

9 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

10 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。