2007年VOA标准英语-Documentaries, Feature Films Highlight Tribeca

By Carolyn Weaver¹
New York City
04 May 2007
 

The sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival, which runs through May 6, features more than 150 films from around the world, including dozens of documentaries and narrative² features from the Middle East, Africa and East Asia.

Actor and director Robert DeNiro and producer Jane Rosenthal, together with developer Craig Hatkoff, founded the festival after the 2001 terrorist attacks. They wanted to help revive downtown New York, especially the area known as Tribeca, near the World Trade Center. The 12-day event has since become a showcase and laboratory for emerging filmmakers, both from overseas and the U.S., who gather daily in the filmmakers' lounge. 

“Tribeca does a lot for filmmakers,” said filmmaker A.P. Gonzalez. “I'm from the west coast, and I've got a screenplay called Cross My Heart, and they've invited me out to make a presentation this year. I show a couple of my films, talk to people, hopefully find some financing."

Full-length documentaries at Tribeca included the premiere of We Are Together (Thina Simunye), which tells the story of an orphanage³ choir⁴ from South Africa. Most of the children at the Agape Orphanage have lost their parents to AIDS. The film was directed by a former volunteer at the orphanage, Paul Taylor.

9 Star Hotel is about some of the thousands of Palestinian men who sneak⁵ into Israel every day in order to work constructing new homes. They themselves camp out in the nearby hills. A portrait of the friendship among some of the men, the film will open in New York and several other American cities later this month.

The Devil Came on Horseback examines the situation in Darfur, Sudan, through the eyes of a former U.S. soldier who was stationed there as an unarmed observer. The photographs he took led to the film, which activists⁶ hope will help focus attention to the crisis in Darfur.

Tuya’s Marriage (Tu ya de hun shi), from China, is the tale of a shepherdess and reluctant divorcee in Mongolia

Among the feature films from East Asia is Tuya's Marriage, a tragicomedy about a Mongolian shepherdess whose husband is disabled in an accident. When she herself is injured, they divorce -- so that she can look for another husband who will agree to support them both.

The Tribeca Film Festival's big-budget movie event this year was the U.S. premiere of the latest in the Spiderman series. Spider-Man 3 premiered at a theater in the New York borough⁷ of Queens that's the home of the fictional⁸ hero, played by Tobey Maguire.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 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。

3 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

4 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

5 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

8 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。