2007年VOA标准英语-Bosnian Filmmakers Showcase Their Work in New Y

By Victoria Cavaliere
New York
06 June 2007

A young film festival in New York City is showcasing Bosnian filmmakers to a growing U.S. audience. From VOA's New York bureau, Victoria Cavaliere reports that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival is also earning critical praise.

For the past four years, the Bosnian community in New York has staged the festival to showcase some of the best feature films, documentaries and shorts the country has to offer.

Tribeca Cinemas hosted the 4th Annual Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival

This year, the festival moved into a larger space. With the new location came an expanding submission¹ list and fan base.

Leila Rachidi is a member of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Selection Committee. She says there were 20 submissions² for the 2007 festival that took place in May. Twelve films made the final line-up. She says the audience was an even split between Bosnians and New York film enthusiasts³.

"Film is Bosnia's best export these days," she said. "The Bosnian film industry has grown tremendously, especially since that Oscar win for "No Man's Land" several years ago. We want to show how good the film is especially for a small country like that."

According to unofficial estimates, there are between 150,000 and 200,000 Bosnians emigrants⁴ in the United States, 20,000 of whom settled in New York. Most arrived during the civil war and "ethnic⁵ cleansing⁶" campaign of the 1990s that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Rachidi explains that Bosnian films draw on the history of the people. But she says they also convey a shared human condition, and she thinks this helps explain their wider appeal.

"I know there's something in Bosnian films that always shows people resilience in the face of adversity," she said. "This is a country going through simultaneous change, it went through the fall of communism, major economic changes, the wars and so the films always show this resilience in the face of adversity but always, always with a dose of humor."

Rachidi says many of the Bosnian films of the past decade have been about the war, but more and more, they concentrate on the realities of daily life.

This year, the audience award for best short or feature film went to Grbavica.  The movie is based on the lives of a mother and daughter living in Sarajevo. The film was also nominated for the grand jury prize at the prestigious⁷ Sundance Film Festival.

The prize for best documentary went to Carnival⁸.  The film explores the fate of Bosnian refugees who were picked up in Montenegro in 1992 and sent to a Serb-run prison.

Many of the films were first shown at the Sarajevo film festival in August. But Rachidi says more films are now having their debut⁹ in New York.

"Definitely we're getting more professional, we're attracting bigger audiences, moving to larger theaters, definitely there's a vision," she said.

The film festival is organized by the local non-profit groups The Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Voice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

2 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

4 emigrants   

n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At last the emigrants got to their new home. 移民们终于到达了他们的新家。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Truly, a decree for selling the property of emigrants.' “有那么回事，是出售外逃人员财产的法令。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

7 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

8 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

9 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。