放手去做:我在内罗毕贫民窟做电影制片人

我认为记者们对玛萨瑞的报道有误,他们误解了这里。所以我决定成为一名电影制作人,我想要为其正名并追寻自己内心的激情。
Kenya, East Africa

Story by Elijah Kanye. Edited by Vivian Jieluan Chen. Translated by
Published on December 19, 2020.

This story is also available in GB ar de es fr it kr tr



我无所畏惧,逆着人潮向内罗毕酒店跑去,那里正是袭击发生的地方[1]。我们是第一批到达现场的记者:我,另一位记者和摄影师。一开始我们还不知道这到底是抢劫还是恐怖袭击,只是看到人们从酒店里跑出来,而我们却要到里面去。之后,地上的两具尸体和他们身上的弹孔明明白白地告诉我们,这就是一场恐怖袭击。酒店很大,我们至少得找到一面可以靠着的墙作为掩体,保护自己免受射击。回看素材时我才意识到,当时的情况是有多么的危险,我们的做法很不理智。没有任何的防护装备,无人受伤真是谢天谢地了。其他人都是远远地拍摄了当时的场景,只有我们在内部拍到了真实的情况。

我小时候的梦想是当一名职业足球选手。像很多我儿时的玛萨瑞 [2]朋友一样,我想在我们当地的足球俱乐部踢球,比如玛萨瑞联队或者皇家玛萨瑞。如果能去更好的地方,我就想去欧洲的曼联皇马。社区里只有一个真正的足球场:玛萨瑞仓库球场。我和朋友们占据了这个场地,很多年来我们都是那里最好的足球小将。出于某种原因,当地人并不喜欢我们这样。不过我爱死了这种生活,我就想像城里可口可乐的广告牌上写的那样:“足球人生,畅饮可口。”[3]很遗憾的是事情并不像我想的那样,我得在人生中寻找另外一个目标。

我认为记者们没有正确报道玛萨瑞。比如说,如果贫民窟的人打了起来,“外来者”们就会觉得太危险了,他们不敢走近去看看人们为什么打架。他们在误解玛萨瑞。这就是我13年前决定成为电影制作人的初心,用我玛萨瑞人的眼睛来看看这里到底发生了什么事,并以电影的方式记录下来。因为我小时候一直在这踢球,人们都认识我、信任我,有些人叫我“踢球的伊莱扎”,还有些人叫我“拍电影的伊莱扎”。

成为电影制作人是我心之所向。我发自内心地想要讲述发生在我的社区中的事,这个社区就是玛萨瑞。我想让真实的声音传递出去。一般来说我拍的都是积极的事情,因为你可能已经听说了很多消极的事情。然而,我也会始终对我的观众保持真诚,因为他们将我看作一个记者、一个电影制作人来信任。最近,我报道了一些严肃事件,比如新冠疫情期间,警方在贫民窟内使用暴力。通过纪录片的形式,我将玛萨瑞的故事分享到荷兰国家电视台、英国广播公司和其他媒体[4]

我的梦想是有朝一日我能为自己拍一部自传。我想以我的经历激励贫民窟中的年轻人,让他们相信,他们可以做成任何自己想做的事,自由地活着,忠于自己的内心。他们只需要放手去做。


注释

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-47202313

[2] 玛萨瑞是肯尼亚内罗毕的贫民聚集区,大概有50万人口。

[3] 译者注:此处原文为1998年法国世界杯上可口可乐的经典广告语:Eat football, sleep football, drink Coca-Cola.

[4] 作者在荷兰国家电视台发布的内容见:https://nos.nl/video/2346202-elijah-filmt-het-politiegeweld-in-zijn-sloppenwijk.html,英国广播公司发布的内容见:https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-53025934

[5] 伊莱扎已经设立了专门用于帮助贫民窟年轻人的项目“萨提”,在此项目中,年轻人们会在电影、艺术和其他技术方面得到手把手的指导。愿有朝一日能实现他们的梦想。关于“萨提”请访问:https://www.facebook.com/watch/TVSauti/或 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFlrToASX3c&t=5s&ab_channel=SautiTv


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Elijah Kanye

Elijah Kanye

My name is Elijah Kanyi, a Filmmaker/Producer and Director based in Nairobi, Kenya. Born and bred in Mathare slum, one of the oldest slums in East Africa. I have witnessed so much injustice over the years, which is what motivated me to become a Filmmaker. The career path I chose has given me an opportunity to tell the stories of my people, ranging from corruption, and inequality in health and education, resource distribution, police brutality & extrajudicial killings. Early in my life, I was determined to protect and project a voice for the people without a voice, and that's wat I do as a filmmaker. 

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