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我的名字是 Ryan Lobo,我已參與記錄片拍攝工作達 10 年,範圍遍及全世界,拍攝這些電影時,我也在拍照,這常讓攝影師十分光火,但卻也發現自己對拍照是禁不住的,而且常在拍攝後讓我覺得,相片述說故事的力道強過有時會引起社會轟動的記錄片,我覺得,當手握自己拍的相片時,我握住的是種真實,不管政治進程為何。
2007 年時,我到三處戰亂地區旅行,伊拉克、阿富汗及賴比瑞亞,在那兒,我體驗到其他人的苦難,近距離且切身讓自己浸淫在那些緊張及激動的故事當中,而且不時都在經歷生命受威脅的恐懼,當我如常地返回邦加羅爾,我總是雀躍地在朋友家分享旅程點滴,那是我們討論各種問題的地方,但當他們在酸言抱怨新酒吧的營業時間,或是飲品的價格比他們 14 歲的僕人還貴時,我覺得自己被孤立於討論之外,但我同時也質疑自己,關於自己的正直度與分享故事的目的,我瞭解到我也是妥協派,就像他們在討論的事一樣,我們只是說書人,我們都在找藉口,而非承擔責任,我不打算在此公開促發以上結論的原因,但反正不出酒精、香煙,其他東西和女人。(笑聲)
我體會到是我自己,非攝影機或網路或其他東西讓我孤立於外,而這正是說故事時唯一真正值得調整的工具,生命中,當我試圖達成某些事,像成功或認同時,它們總是巧妙地避開,矛盾的是當我不去理會這些目標,僅依著我的憐憫與意圖進行持續找尋完美,而非只是結果時,欲達之事都自動送上門,包括滿足感,攝影超越文化,包括我自己的文化,那對我而言是一種表達無形的語言,而且代言了噤聲的人們及故事。
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
My name is Ryan Lobo, and I've been involved in the documentary filmmaking business all over the world for the last 10 years. During the process of making these films I found myself taking photographs, often much to the annoyance of the video cameramen.
I found this photography of mine almost compulsive. And at the end of a shoot, I would sometimes feel that I had photographs that told a better story than a sometimes-sensational documentary. I felt, when I had my photographs, that I was holding on to something true, regardless of agendas or politics. In 2007 I traveled to three war zones. I traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and Liberia. And over there I experienced other people's suffering, up close and personal, immersed myself in some rather intense and emotional stories, and at times I experienced great fear for my own life.
As always, I would return to Bangalore, and often to animated discussions at friend's homes, where we would discuss various issues while they complained bitterly about new pub timings, where a drink often cost more than what they'd paid their 14 year old maid. I would feel very isolated during these discussions. But at the same time, I questioned myself and my own integrity and purpose in storytelling. And I decided that I had compromised, just like my friends in those discussions, where we told stories in contexts we made excuses for, rather than taking responsibility for.
I won't go into details about what led to a decision I made, but let's just say it involved alcohol, cigarettes, other substances and a woman. (Laughter) I basically decided that it was I, not the camera or the network, or anything that lay outside myself, that was the only instrument in storytelling truly worth tuning. In my life, when I tried to achieve things like success or recognition, they eluded me. Paradoxically, when I let go of these objectives, and worked from a place of compassion and purpose, looking for excellence, rather than the results of it, everything arrived on its own, including fulfillment.
Photography transcended culture, including my own. And it is, for me, a language which expressed the intangible, and gives voice to people and stories without.
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我邀請各位進入我近期的三則故事,全是關於這種觀點的故事,我相信那體現了我所謂的說書憐憫原則,2007 年時,我到訪賴比瑞亞,我和朋友一群人前往拍攝一支獨立、資金自付的電影,而且還在進行中,主角是一位傳奇的血腥魔頭,名叫「光屁股將軍」,他的本名為 Joshua,這是他在一間牢房中的照片,他曾在那兒拷問及謀害無辜,包括孩童,Joshua 宣稱自己曾親手殺害超過 10,000 人,在賴比瑞亞內戰時,他的稱號來自他曾赤裸幹架,他可能是當今世上最血腥的大規模謀殺現行犯。
這位婦人目睹將軍殺害她的兄弟,Joshua 還指揮童兵犯下滔天大罪,而且以極野蠻的方式貫徹其指令,今日,很多這些童兵都用藥成癮,諸如海洛因,而且生活極為貧困,就像相片中的這些青少年,你要如何過活,如果你明白自己曾幹下可怕的罪行,今日,將軍已受洗成為基督傳教士,並啟程傳播福音,我們陪徒步的 Joshua 上路,到訪他曾殺害及強暴無辜的村莊,他在尋求寬恕,並宣稱要盡力改善那些童兵的生活,在這趟探險中,我本以為他會被幹掉,我們也會遭殃,但事實卻讓我睜大了雙眼,見識到寬恕的真意,我原以為那是根本不可能的事,身處在極端貧困與喪失一切的環境中,人們寬恕了這個人,這個將一切剝奪的人,他乞求原諒,就連那個兄弟遭其謀殺的婦人也原諒了他。
塞內加爾年輕人,坐在輪椅上,他曾是童兵,受將軍指揮,直到他抵抗命令 ,將軍開槍射斷他的雙腳,圖中,他也原諒了將軍,將軍冒生命危險走向人們,尤其是那些親人遭其謀害的人們,這張相片中,一群充滿敵意的貧民窟居民將他圍住,Joshua 保持沉默,他們不斷發洩對他的憤怒,這張影像對我而言,簡直就像是莎翁劇本,一個人被多種勢力包圍,不顧一切要從他身上擠出些許的真實,全因他主導所產生的一切苦難,這對我產生了強烈的震撼,但問題是,寬恕與贖罪是否能取代正義?套用 Joshua 的話,他不介意接受自己罪過的審判,或在首都蒙羅維亞各處公開講述過往,聽眾甚至常是受害者,一個不太可能是的政教分離概念代言人。
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I invite you into three recent stories of mine, which are about this way of looking, if you will, which I believe exemplify the tenets of what I like to call compassion in storytelling.
In 2007 I went to Liberia, where a group of my friends and I did an independent, self-funded film, still in progress, on a very legendary and brutal war-lord named General Butt Naked. His real name is Joshua, and he's pictured here in a cell, where he once used to torture and murder people, including children. Joshua claims to have personally killed more than 10,000 people during Liberia's civil war. He got his name from fighting stark naked. And he is probably the most prolific mass murderer alive on Earth today.
This woman witnessed the General murdering her brother. Joshua commanded his child-soldiers to commit unspeakable crimes, and enforced his command with great brutality. Today many of these children are addicted to drugs like heroin, and they are destitute, like these young men in the image. How do you live with yourself if you know you've committed horrific crimes? Today the General is a baptized Christian evangelist. And he's on a mission.
We accompanied Joshua, as he walked the Earth, visiting villages where he had once killed and raped. He seeked forgiveness, and he claims to endeavor to improve the lives of his child-soldiers. During this expedition I expected him to be killed outright, and us as well. But what I saw opened my eyes to an idea of forgiveness which I never thought possible. In the midst of incredible poverty and loss, people who had nothing absolved a man who had taken everything from them. He begs for forgiveness, and receives it from the same woman whose brother he murdered. Senegalese, the young man seated on the wheelchair here, was once a child soldier, under the General's command, until he disobeyed orders, and the General shot off both his legs. He forgives the General in this image. He risked his life as he walked up to people whose families he'd murdered.
In this photograph a hostile crowd in a slum surrounds him. And Joshua remains silent as they vented their rage against him. This image, to me, is almost like from a Shakespearean play, with a man, surrounded by various influences, desperate to hold on to something true within himself, in a context of great suffering that he has created himself.
I was intensely moved during all this. But the question is, does forgiveness and redemption replace justice? Joshua, in his own words, says that he does not mind standing trial for his crimes, and speaks about them from soapboxes across Monrovia, to an audience that often includes his victims. A very unlikely spokesperson for the idea of separation of church and state.
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我要分享的第二則故事是關於一群非常特別的女戰士,個個身具獨特的維和技能,賴比瑞亞是非洲大陸受到血腥內戰摧殘最嚴重的國家之一,超過 200,000 人死於戰亂,數以千計的婦女被強暴,罪行之大足以比天,賴比瑞亞現在是一支全女性聯合國派遣隊的駐點所在,維和成員全是印度籍女性,這些婦女很多來自印度鄉村,遠離家人在此執行維和任務,她們更常運用協調與容忍,而非武器對抗反叛,指揮官告訴我婦女判斷潛在暴力局勢的能力更勝男人,而且她們絕對能夠以溫和的方式卸除暴力,這名男性喝得很茫,他很想對攝影機下手,直到他發現維和婦女微笑地靠近他,當然還有上膛 AK-47 步槍。(笑聲)
這支派遣隊似乎很幸運,保持著零傷亡的記錄,因為有數十支維和隊伍早在賴比瑞亞被做掉了,當然,那些被做掉的人清一色是男性,這些婦女很多已經結婚生子,她們表示派遣任務中最艱難的部份是,她們必需和自己的骨肉分離,我跟著她們上路巡邏,看著她們走過男人面前,很多猥褻言語此起彼落,我問到一位婦女對這些髒話及敬畏反應的看法,她說:「不要緊,國內的情況一樣,我們知道如何對付這些傢伙」,她並不理會他們,身處一個婦女不斷被暴力蹂躪的國家,印度婦女維和團鼓舞了很多當地婦女加入警察的行列,有時,當戰爭結束,攝影團隊離開後,最激勵人心的故事常是那些檯面下的真實事件。
我回到印度,沒有金主對這個故事感興趣,一位編輯甚至告訢我,她對這種,她所謂的「勞動體力故事」不感興趣。2007 到 2009 年時,我拍攝了德里消防隊(DFS),夏季時,他們可能是全世界出動最繁忙的救火隊,他們在短短兩個月的時間內接到 5,000 通報警電話,而這一切都還要算入調度的機率,像是熱度及塞車,拍攝期間,令人驚訝的事發生了,因為塞車,我們抵達貧民窟的時間遲了,這是一處大型貧民窟火災,當我們靠近時,憤怒的群眾攻擊我們的消防車,數以百計的民眾向我們擲石,這個人被嚇壞了,因為暴民攻擊我們的消防車,但不管這種敵視態度,消防隊員下車,並成功控制火勢,不畏攻擊的衝過不友善的群眾,有些頭戴安全帽以防受傷,一些居民強硬地從消防員的手中搶走消防水管,用以撲滅自己家中的火勢,但還是有數以百計的家庭被毀,可是縈繞在我心中的問題是,什麼造成人們想要摧毀消防車?那可是前來搶救他們家園的救星耶!他們的憤怒來自何方?又,我們的責任為何?1400 萬德里居民中,有 45 % 住在未經批准的貧民窟,而且長期以來擠入太多居民,他們缺乏最基本的設施,這種現象普遍存在於所有的大城市之中。
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The second story I'm going to tell you about is about a group of very special fighting women with rather unique peace-keeping skills. Liberia has been devastated by one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars, which has left more than 200,000 people dead, thousands of women scarred by rape and crime on a spectacular scale. Liberia is now home to an all-woman United Nations contingent of Indian peacekeepers.
These women, many from small towns in India, help keep the peace, far away from home and family. They use negotiation and tolerance more often than an armed response. The commander told me that a woman could gauge a potentially violent situation much better than men. And that they were definitely capable of diffusing it non-aggressively. This man was very drunk, and he was very interested in my camera, until he noticed the women, who handled him with smiles, and AK-47s at the ready, of course. (Laughter)
This contingent seems to be quite lucky, and it has not sustained any casualties, even though dozens of peacekeepers have been killed in Liberia. And yes, all of those people killed were male. Many of the women are married with children, and they say the hardest part of their deployment was being kept away from their children.
I accompanied these women on their patrols, and watched as they walked past men, many who passed very lewd comments incessantly. And when I asked one of the women about the shock and awe response, she said, "Don't worry, same thing back home. We know how to deal with these fellows," and ignored them.
In a country ravaged by violence against women, Indian peacekeepers have inspired many local women to join the police force. Sometimes, when the war is over and all the film crews have left, the most inspiring stories are the ones that float just beneath the radar. I came back to India and nobody was interested in buying the story. And one editor told me that she wasn't interested in doing what she called "manual labor stories."
In 2007 and 2009 I did stories on the Delhi Fire Service, the DFS, which, during the summer, is probably the world's most active fire department. They answer more than 5,000 calls in just two months. And all this against incredible logistical odds, like heat and traffic jams. Something amazing happened during this shoot. Due to a traffic jam, we were late in getting to a slum, a large slum, which had caught fire. As we neared, angry crowds attacked our trucks and stoned them, by hundreds of people all over the place. These men were terrified, as the mob attacked our vehicle.
But nonetheless, despite the hostility, firefighters left the vehicle and successfully fought the fire. Running the gauntlet through hostile crowds, and some wearing motorbike helmets to prevent injury. Some of the local people forcibly took away the hoses from the firemen to put out the fire in their homes. Now, hundreds of homes were destroyed. But the question that lingered in my mind was, what causes people to destroy fire trucks headed to their own homes? Where does such rage come from? And how are we responsible for this? 45 percent of the 14 million people who live in Delhi live in unauthorized slums, which are chronically overcrowded. They lack even the most basic amenities. And this is something that is common to all our big cities.
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回頭來談 DFS,一處大型的化學倉庫起火了,數以千計的石油化學製品桶助燃火勢,且四方都有爆炸,火勢十足猛烈,水柱被用來幫消防員降溫,他們近距離地救火,身上沒有任何的防護衣具,在印度,我們喜歡抱怨我們的政府部門,但在這兒我們看到 DFS 頭頭R.C. Sharman 先生和 A.K. Sharman 先生,帶頭與夥伴們並肩救火,這種美好的事發生在一個勞動體力常被瞧不起的國家。(掌聲)
多年來,我對說書影響力的信念不斷受到測試,我也對其效力產生強烈懷疑,還有我對人性的信念,但是,我們拍攝的一支影片仍在國家地理頻道播放,當它播出時,我收到所有曾參與拍攝者的電話,他們告訴我,他們收到數百通恭喜的電話,有些消防員告訴我說,他們也受到激勵,要更努力的幹活,因為他們感到很滿意收到的是感謝,而非磚塊,看起來,這則故事改變了人們對 DFS 的觀感,至少對於有收看電視、讀雜誌,且自家屋頂未著火的視聽眾而言。
有時,專注於英雄式、美好及有尊嚴的事,不管脈絡為何,能夠幫助以下三者擴大這種無形的感覺,故事的主角、視聽眾,還有說書人的心中,這就是說書的力量,專注於莊嚴、勇氣及美好的事,它便會自動開花結果,感謝聆聽。
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Back to the DFS. A huge chemical depot caught fire, thousands of drums filled with petrochemicals were blazing away and exploding all around us. The heat was so intense, that hoses were used to cool down firefighters fighting extremely close to the fire, and with no protective clothing. In India we often love to complain about our government bodies. But over here, the heads of the DFS, Mister R.C. Sharman, Mister A.K. Sharman, lead the firefight with their men. Something wonderful in a country where manual labor is often looked down upon. (Applause)
Over the years, my faith in the power of storytelling has been tested. And I've had very serious doubt about its efficacy, and my own faith in humanity. However, a film we shot still airs on the National Geographic channel. And when it airs I get calls from all the guys I was with and they tell me that they receive hundreds of calls congratulating them. Some of the firemen told me that they were also inspired to do better because they were so pleased to get thank-yous rather than brick bats.
It seems that this story helped change perceptions about the DFS, at least in the minds of an audience in part on televisions, read magazines and whose huts aren't on fire. Sometimes, focusing on what's heroic, beautiful and dignified, regardless of the context, can help magnify these intangibles three ways, in the protagonist of the story, in the audience, and also in the storyteller. And that's the power of storytelling. Focus on what's dignified, courageous and beautiful, and it grows. Thank you.