VOA标准英语2010年-Israel's Oscar-Nominated Film Looks at

This year, the films nominated¹ for a foreign language Oscar include  Ajami, an Israeli movie that features non-professional Israeli actors -- both Arab and Jewish. The film is set in Ajami, a neighborhood of Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv.  The community is a mix of Jews and Arabs and is known for violent crime and drug-dealing². The movie never mentions the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the divide between Jews and Arabs is an ever-present theme.

From a distance, Jaffa is a beautiful seaside community. It blends Arab and Jewish cultures. But although they live side by side, Jews and Arabs never mix and occasionally they collide³. 

Real life in Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood is much like it appears in Ajami, the film. Crime is a part of daily life, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a never-disappearing backdrop.

Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew  who co-directed the film with an Israeli Arab, says Ajami sought to expose human nature, specifically why people hurt one another.  "We wanted to show what it is to be a human being in conflict with another human being. It's not a story about good side and bad side or evil side and just side. It's a story about human beings who are understanding reality in a totally different way," he said.  

 

It took the directors and a cast of non-professional actors eight years to make the film. In it, a series of disconnected subplots dealing with desperation and conflict occur within the same community.

One of the stories involves Malek, a young Palestinian who sneaks⁴ into Israel from the West Bank to work so he can pay for a lifesaving operation for his mother.  Ibrahim Frege plays Malek. "If we look into every individual person in the film, their stories and we live their life, we could really feel and understand society.  It is not just our society, but every society," Malek said.

Jaffa native Amal Abu Ramadan plays Malek's mother.  Like the others, she volunteered to act in the film without pay for the chance to perform in a project she believed in. "It really reflects reality," she said. "This is why I really liked the film. Because of that I wanted to participate in the film and support it."

Frege says his role is really the story of his life.  Since he was 12, he has worked as a gardener and a farmhand to support his family.  He hopes the film will promote understanding. "I want this movie to send a message to both sides, that Jewish society should not look at the Arab as a killer⁵ or as a drug dealer⁶, or as an evil human being.  At the same time, the Arab should not look at Jews as killers⁷ who seek to do harm," he said.

This could be the first time an Israeli film wins an Oscar. Ajami's filmmakers say winning would be nice, but showing the reality behind the stories is what matters most. 
 

1 nominated   

adj.被提名的，被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
• The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 collide   

vi.碰撞，互撞，冲突，抵触

参考例句：

• The interests of the two countries collide.两国的利益发生冲突。
• The tides slide on the tidy wide beach and collide each other.海潮在整洁宽阔的海滩上滑行并相互碰撞。

4 sneaks   

abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• Typhoid fever sneaks in when sanitation fails. 环境卫生搞不好，伤寒就会乘虚而入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Honest boys scorn sneaks and liars. 诚实的人看不起狡诈和撒谎的人。 来自辞典例句

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

7 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。