ALBIE HECHT is an old hand at philanthropy. The former Nickelodeon president has long been generous to children's charities. When Hecht became concerned about the plight of young African war refugees, he decided to try something new: He financed a documentary about Ugandan schoolchildren who are struggling with the ravages of that country's 20-year civil war while competing in a national music contest.
艾爾比．海克特是行善老手，這位前有線電視網路尼克兒童國際頻道總裁一向慷慨解囊，熱心兒童公益。當海克特開始關切非洲戰爭小難民的苦難時，他決定做點新的嘗試：他出資攝製一部紀錄片，實錄烏干達兒童經過長達20年的內戰蹂躪後，仍準備參加全國音樂比賽。
His film, "War/Dance," won the documentary directing award at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
他的影片「戰舞」在一月的日舞影展中贏得最佳導演獎。
"I was at Viacom for 13 years being a big producer," Hecht said. "Having gone through that, I really wanted to do something personal."
「我在衛康公司當大製片13年，」海克特說。「經歷那一切，我真想做點比較個人化的東西。」
In the eight months since Al Gore's global-warming wake-up call, "An Inconvenient Truth," was released, the documentary film marketplace has exploded with backers like Hecht.
自從高爾提醒世人注意氣候暖化的影片「不願面對的真相」發行八個月以來，紀錄片市場已被海克特這類支持者塞爆。
Call them "filmanthropists." They have deep pockets and issue-driven agendas. Rather than make high-class dramas that might carry some mild social message, these producers are turning out full-blown advocacy movies.
這些人統稱「電影善人」。他們荷包滿滿，關切社會議題。這些製片寧願捨棄帶點溫和社會訊息的高格調劇情片，轉而推出鼓吹某項議題的成熟電影。
Although their individual aims may be different, each has used a nonfiction film to shine a spotlight on social injustices, or government malfeasance, and even to recast history in the service of human uplift and national reconciliation.
他們各別的目標容或不同，每個人都用非小說電影鎖定並照亮社會的不公不義，或政府的倒行逆施，同時甚至為了人類的提升和國家的和解而重塑歷史。
AMERICA ONLINE Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis, for one, in 2005 self-financed "Nanking," which documents a group of Westerners' heroic efforts to save thousands of Chinese civilians from massacre by Japanese soldiers during the buildup to World War II.
美國線上副董李昂希斯就是其中一位，他2005年獨資拍攝「南京」，記錄一群西方人在二戰前情勢危急之際，欲拯救成千上萬名中國老百姓免於遭日軍屠殺的英勇事蹟。
Actors turned producers Brad Pitt, Dermot Mulroney and Catherine Keener combined efforts to produce, along with others, "God Grew Tired of Us," a documentary chronicling a group of Sudanese teenagers who fled starvation and genocide in their homeland only to be shocked and bewildered by consumer culture in the United States. The film reached theaters in January.
演而優則製片的布萊德彼特、德莫羅尼和凱瑟基納合力攝製「被遺忘的蘇丹人」（暫譯）等片，這部紀錄片記錄一群蘇丹青少年逃離家鄉的饑荒和滅種大屠殺後，卻對美國消費文化感到震驚迷惑無所適從，該片也在一月上院線。
"This came together because we're a bunch of friends who care about the world and wanted to support a project depicting reality in Sudan," Mulroney said at the film's premiere.
「這部片能拍成，主要得力於一群關心世局、志同道合的朋友，我們希望支持一項呈現蘇丹真相的計畫，」穆羅尼在該片首映典禮上說。
According to Mark Urman, head of the theatrical division of ThinkFilms, the company that will distribute "War/Dance" next fall, filmanthropy runs contrary to Hollywood's typical mind-set that puts profits far ahead of any social action.
據今秋將發行「戰舞」的ThinkFilms公司戲劇部門主管馬克．烏曼說，慈善影片和好萊塢利潤優於社會行動的基本心態背道而馳。
He said: "Fiction movies take so long to make. Documentaries can be more responsive to the zeitgeist. Look at 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' That was made to get a guy out of the White House."
他說：「拍劇情片曠日費時，紀錄片較能反映時代精神，看看華氏9/11，攝製那部影片是要把某人趕出白宮。」
At the same time, Jeff Sparks, chief executive of the Heartland Film Festival contends that filmanthropy's recent surge is linked to the growing bankability of documentary films.
同時，美國「溫馨電影展」執行長傑夫．史帕克斯聲稱，慈善電影大行其道，主要是紀錄片愈來愈有利可圖。
"On the business side, something like 'March of the Penguins' showed that documentaries really can make some money," Sparks said. "You didn't see that three years ago. The business model has changed."
「在商言商，像『企鵝寶貝』已經證明，紀錄片其實也可以賺錢，」史帕克斯說。「三年前八字沒一撇，但商業模式已經變了。」
Documentaries, which rarely cost more than $2 million to make, are a comparative bargain weighed against most narrative features. Some recent documentaries have even been moneymakers. "Penguins," for example, which documented the extraordinary resilience of the Antarctic bird, cost a modest $8 million, eventually grossing $122 million worldwide.
拍紀錄片很少花超過兩百萬美元，和大部分劇情片比起來比較划算，最近有些劇情片甚至倒賺不少，例如，「企鵝寶貝」記錄南極這種韌性超強的禽類，成本只有八百萬美元，最後全球票房總收入創1億2200萬美元。
But filmanthropists are the first to tell you: They pay heed more to their hearts than to the bottom line.
但電影善人會率先跳出來告訴你：他們比較注意心之所向而不是盈虧。
Leonsis said one of his goals in making "Nanking" was to create a foundation to house the 880 hours of survivor interviews and reams of archival research assembled for the film. But his larger ambition is to foster a Sino-Japanese cultural detente. The Nanking massacre is still a sore subject for both countries, and a vocal minority of right-wing Japanese deny it ever took place.
李昂希斯說，他攝製「南京」的目標之一是創立一個基金會，以收藏長達880小時倖存者的專訪，以及為拍這部片子而收集的一卷卷研究檔案，但他更大的企圖心是緩和中日之間的文化關係。南京大屠殺仍是中日兩國的傷痛話題，一小群日本右翼分子甚至否認曾發生南京大屠殺。
"Today, China and Japan have disagreements and cultural differences that go back to this time in history," Leonsis said. "And I honestly believe a film like this can get them talking."
「今天，中日兩國因回溯這段歷史而仍有歧見和文化差異，」李昂希斯說。「我真的相信，像這種片子可以促使雙方對話。」
《詞解》
documentary 紀錄片
filmanthropists 電影善人
malfeasance 倒行逆施
zeitgeist 時代精神
bankability 有利可圖
the bottom line 盈虧
detente 緊張關係緩和
Sundance Film Festival 日舞影展
An Inconvenient Truth 不願面對的真相
deep pockets 財源滾滾，荷包滿滿
full-blown advocacy movies 成熟的議題電影
Heartland Film Festival 溫馨電影展
March of the Penguins 企鵝寶貝