【英语听和读】电影节

 Callum: Hello, I’m Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment. Our topic today is

films and film festivals. You may have heard of the Venice Film Festival and

the Cannes Film Festival, glamorous¹ occasions with A-list celebrities² from the

movie world turning out to promote their latest projects. A festival you might

not know is the Portobello Film Festival which is currently taking place in

Portobello an area of West London. It’s had its own independent film festival

for a number of years and to learn more about it I spoke³ to the festival’s

director Jonathan Barnett. I first asked him when and how it started.

Jonathan Barnett

Well it started in 1996 because even back in those days there were people making very low

budget films often using video equipment and there wasn’t really anywhere for them to show

their films so we thought it would be nice to provide a platform for these filmmakers. We had

the mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we also decided⁴ not to

charge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.

Callum: It started in 1996 as a way of giving independent filmmakers somewhere to

show their films. As Jonathan said, to give them a platform. These films he

described as low-budget films which means they were made without very

much money. He also talked about their policy on which films to show in the

festival. He uses the word submitted, the past participle of the verb ‘to submit’.

In this case it means to send in. People send in or submit films to the festival

organisers hoping they will be part of the festival. Which films does Jonathan

say they show and how much do the filmmakers have to pay to submit their

films? Listen again. 

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Jonathan Barnett

We had the mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we also

decided not to charge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.

Callum: Jonathan says that they show every film that is submitted. They also decided

not to charge. So it’s free for filmmakers to submit their films and it’s also free

for people to go and see the films during the. This he describes as a ‘mad idea’

but he explains it by saying that they are not ‘rabid capitalists’ which means

they are not doing it to make money. After hearing this I wondered just how

many films are being shown and where they do get the money from to run the

festival. Listen out for that information. How many films are being shown and

how do they manage to pay for it? He mentions some sources of funding from

different organisations, but what else does he mention is a financial support?

Jonathan Barnett

This year we’re showing 700 films. The money comes in from funding, we get money from

people like Film London and the Arts Council and also we get a lot of ‘in kind’ support from

sponsors. So we don’t have to pay for advertising⁵, we don’t have to pay for launch parties, we

don’t have to pay for prizes.

Callum: 700 films are being shown this year and as well as receiving money from

different arts and local organisations the festival gets ‘in kind’ support from

sponsors. This means that sponsors of the festival get publicity⁶ from their

involvement with it and therefore don’t charge for the goods and services they

provide.

Over the first three weeks of August 700 films are being shown as part of the

Portobello Film Festival. What kind of films can be seen? Are they just short

student films or does the festival attract big names as well? Here’s festival

director Jonathan Barnett. 

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Jonathan Barnett

The actual films we’re showing are a lot better than anything you’ll see mostly on the tele or

in the multiplexes and it’s everything from student films and we also get stuff from top

filmmakers like, for instance, John Malkovich. So I think because we’re a festival that has a

reputation for a certain amount of integrity and also being a little bit out on a limb we attract

the big names as well as people who are just starting out. The first year of the festival we had

Guy Ritchie’s first film which was called the Hard Case, which was fantastic, it’s exactly the

same as Lock Stock and Snatch but he was kind of formulating⁷ his ideas and it was a short

film.

Callum: Jonathan believes there is a very high quality of films from new student

filmmakers to established and well-known artists such a John Malkovich. He

also mentioned the British director Guy Ritchie who had international success

with the films Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. In the

festival’s first year Ritchie submitted a short film called Hard Case which

Jonathan said was fantastic, and it showed Ritchie formulating or developing

the ideas that he would later use in those mainstream⁸ films. The Portobello

Film Festival runs until the 21 of August and as well as films there are other

arts events as well. Jonathan wants the festival to be more than just for film.

Jonathan Barnett

Yes, what we want it to be is, we want it to be a bit like a kind of cross between Glastonbury

and Edinburgh, but for free and set in Portobello Road.

Callum: They would like it to become a big arts festival, something like the huge

Glastonbury music festival and the Edinburgh international arts festival, only

free and set in Portobello Road. 

1 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

2 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

3 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。

4 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。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

7 formulating   

v.构想出( formulate的现在分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese government is formulating nationwide regulations on the control of such chemicals. 目前，中国政府正在制定全国性的易制毒化学品管理条例。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Because of this, the U.S. has taken further steps in formulating the \"Magellan\" programme. 为此，美国又进一步制定了“麦哲伦”计划。 来自百科语句

8 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。