2006年VOA标准英语-Ramadan Profile: Filmmaker Omar Mahmoud

By Ade Astuti
Washington, DC
19 October 2006
 
watch Muslim Filmmaker report
 
 
Omar Mahmoud, Muslim-American filmmaker 
  
The image of Muslim youths in the U.S. is often perceived as one of alienation¹ and firebrand sermons. But life for young American Muslims is actually more multi-faceted, if not mundane². Like many other young Americans, they also like to have fun, while aspiring³ to high academic and athletic⁴ achievements. This is the portrait of Muslims that Director Omar Mahmood wants to capture. VOA Producers Ade Astuti and Susy Tekunan recently spoke⁵ to the filmmaker in Los Angeles, California. Jim Bertel narrates⁶.

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There are scenes in the film "Muslim Boarders" which show young American Muslims enjoying the sport of snowboarding. The young men and women play, like any other American teenager. But what sets them apart, is they break for prayer.

"Muslim Boarders" has been screened in film festivals across the U.S. and Canada. It is the work of Muslim filmmaker Omar Mahmoud who wanted to break away from the usual depiction⁷ of Muslims as conservative and rigid⁸. In this movie, he shows that young Muslims also have a penchant⁹ for carefree fun.

Mahmoud was born and raised in the U.S. His father is Pakistani and his mother is Filipino. From an early age, Mahmood realized it was often difficult reconciling his identity as both a Muslim and an American.

He realizes he is not alone in grappling with this dual-identity issue. "Sometimes I think it's hard for young people to negotiate, and try to really realize who they are. And what I and some of my friends, what we're trying to do, is trying to basically come up with what is an American Muslim culture. Something that is a fusion¹⁰ that is acceptable on both sides."

This issue is brought up by the main subject of the documentary, Layla Shikley, who also narrates the film. 

Layla Shikley   
  
Layla Shikley says the film and its director address many stereotypes¹², especially regarding Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab (veil). "With regards to Muslim women in hijab, a lot of people see Muslim women as kind of just more servile, being kind of blobs, not being productive members of the society, or people with good things to say. And, that was the first stereotype¹¹ he is trying to break."

Omar Mahmood works from Los Angeles in California, a city renowned¹³ for promising¹⁴ dreams of stardom. But Mahmood admits to using his camera, not for personal fame, but to ensure that American Muslims have a voice in the media of film. "We cannot just rely on news media to kind of define who we are, or anyone else -- Hollywood -- or anything else. We ourselves have to come up and sort of define who we are and explain what it means to be a Muslim."

Mahmoud hopes his films will foster greater understanding by giving young American Muslims the opportunity to tell their stories to the wider American public.

1 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

2 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

3 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

4 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

5 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。

6 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

7 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

8 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

9 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

10 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

11 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

12 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

14 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。