VOA标准英语2011--Istanbul International Film Festival Kic

Istanbul International Film Festival Kicks Off

This week the city of Istanbul is hosting a ground-breaking international film festival. Called "Crime and Punishment," it is focusing on military coups². Turkey is no stranger to coups with its military seizing power three times since 1960. Even though the army last took power in 1980, coups have remained a taboo³ subject.
The opening speeches of the "Crime and Punishment" festival address the painful legacy⁴ of Turkey's history of military coups, in which thousands of people were detained and tortured and hundreds more disappeared.
For decades that legacy was buried. The army was strictly⁵ off limits to journalists, documentary and filmmakers.
"For 20 years you could not talk about anything, you could not create about that issue," said festival film organizer Hulya Sungu. "It was just taboo. Actually it was so hard to organize this kind festival in Turkey without a Turkish film about military coups, because it was not so easy to make a movie about the coup¹ itself. But we just tried to gather all of the country's movies, like Venezuela Argentina and Peru, get their military coup reflection on cinema, and get them together."
17 Hours
The festival opened with the Spanish film 17 Hours. Set in 1981, it tells the story of a failed military coup which lasted 17 hours, against Spain's fledgling democracy.
Director Chema de la Peria pointed⁶ out that in order for democracy to function, countries needed to confront their past.
"This film is a political thriller," he said. "It makes you think how your country can change one way to another. For people it’s very important to know that if you live in a country where you are free, it’s not very easy because some people have fight maybe have died for these human rights."
Issues of social injustice⁷
Accompanying the films are a series of panel discussions organized by Istanbul University that allow the film festival to address wider issues of social injustice.
A scene from the Venezuelan film Brother is about two football players, playing for a team in the slums of Caracas. While not an ostensibly political or socially critical film, using sports helps to circumvent⁸ pressures from the authorities.
"If I want to be critical about what’s going on in my country, Yes, it would probably make it more difficult for me to make it about that," said film director Marcel Rasquin. "Because our country is in such political turmoil⁹ at the moment, we filmmakers are still being wise. I don’t like to consider my film is a social criticism, even though it does have a lot of social criticism. My film goes beyond that to the human aspects of it."
Problem with Censorship
The problems of censorship and self-censorship are issues that Turkish filmmakers are well aware of, says festival organizer Sungu.
Although, she says, the taboo on the military has been eased, problems remain.
"There are some issues with which we still have problems," said Sungu. "But it not military coups, we can show everything about military coups now. There are some issues , like ..Still we don’t get over the censorship of everything kind of movies."
Timing¹⁰ of festival
Despite the problems, Spanish director Chema de la Peria says the fact that Turkey is hosting this type of festival at such a critical time, is particularly significant.
"For me it was very interesting that happened here in Turkey," he said. "Because I think the way democracy arrives to Turkey is the good example for all of the orient and the other Arabic countries. And Turkey is between the orient and the occident¹¹ and it would be a good opportunity to lead this movement."
With most of the performances of the films sold out, the "Crime and Punishment" festival is already being seen as a success. Festival organizers are already planning for next year, aiming to address other contentious¹² issues in Turkey.

1 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

2 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网

3 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

8 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

9 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

10 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

11 occident   

n.西方；欧美

参考例句：

• Our cultural beliefs caused many problems traveling through the Occident.我们在文化上的信仰导致了许多在西方国家旅游时的问题。
• Almost every great occident philosopher discussed this problem after Descartes.笛卡尔以后，几乎所有伟大的西方哲学家都对这个问题进行了深刻的探讨。

12 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。