古巴向好莱坞敞开大门 本土电影人喜忧参半

During a shoot for the Showtime comedy series “House of Lies” last month, Don Cheadle sat outside a cafe in Old Havana, puffing on a fat cigar and clinking glasses with three compadres.

上月，唐·钱德尔(Don Cheadle)坐在哈瓦那老城的一家咖啡馆外，拍摄Showtime的喜剧剧集《谎言屋》(House of Lies)。他抽着粗胖的雪茄，和三位同伴碰杯畅饮。

It was a novel scene — an american actor filming an american TV show on a Cuban street — and one that, until last month, would have been illegal under the United States’s economic embargo.

这是新鲜的一幕：美国演员在古巴街头拍摄美国电视节目。而在上月之前，按照美国经济禁令的规定，这种行为还是违法的。

But regulations published by the Treasury Department on Jan. 26 now allow americans to shoot scripted movies and shows in Cuba for the first time in half a century. The rules opened the door to american projects — which could include scenes for the next “Fast & Furious” movie and an Ethan Hawke film — and to collaboration between Hollywood and the island’s underfunded film sector.

但美国财政部1月26日颁布新规，允许美国人在古巴拍摄有剧本的电影和节目。这是半个世纪以来的第一次。新规为美国的电影项目，也为好莱坞与古巴资金不足的电影产业之间的协作敞开了大门，其中包括下一部《速度与激情》(Fast & Furious)和伊桑·霍克(Ethan Hawke)的一部电影。

“The world just got bigger because Cuba has become accessible,” said Matthew Carnahan, creator of “House of Lies.”

“因为可以进入古巴，整个世界都变大了，”《谎言屋》的主创马修·卡纳汉(Matthew Carnahan)说。

as a location, Cuba was inspiring, if challenging, he said, but added, “I’m dreaming up reasons to go back.”

卡纳汉称，作为一个取景地，古巴虽然充满挑战，但很能启发灵感。他接着表示，“我正在琢磨理由再去古巴一次。”

a stream of american filmmakers needing to hire Cuban equipment and crews would be a boon to the country’s independent production industry, which sprouted in the late 1990s as digital technology made filmmaking more accessible and state money for movies ran dry.

一连串需要租借古巴设备，雇佣古巴剧组人员的美国电影人，可能会让该国的独立制片业受益。古巴的独立电影产业出现于90年代末。当时，数字技术降低了电影制作的门槛，且国家用于电影制作的资金也枯竭了。

Some Cuban filmmakers worry, though, that their government will open its arms to Hollywood while continuing to give its own filmmakers the cold shoulder. Independent production companies in Cuba operate in a legal limbo, getting little or no funding from the state and often struggling to get their movies past the censors.

但一些古巴电影人担心，他们的政府会在向好莱坞张开怀抱的同时，继续冷落本国的电影人。古巴的独立制片公司运行在法律的边缘，从国家获得的资金非常少，甚至没有，并且常常难以让自己的影片通过审查。

“It’s great that people from Hollywood want to come to Cuba, but it’s caught us at a bad moment,” said Carlos Lechuga, a Cuban director. “We have stories to tell, and right now we don’t feel that we can do that.”

“好莱坞的人想来古巴是好事，但现在时机不是很好，”古巴导演卡洛斯·莱丘加(Carlos Lechuga)说。“我们也有故事要讲，但目前，我觉得我们做不到。”

The thaw between the United States and Cuba in 2014 prompted a swell of inquiries from americans eager to shoot there. The next “Fast & Furious” installment may be partly shot in Cuba, a spokeswoman for its studio, Universal Pictures, said, adding that the company “is currently seeking approval from the United States and Cuban governments.”

2014年，美国与古巴关系缓和，渴望去古巴拍片的美国人于是开始积极地咨询。《速度与激情》系列的制作方环球影业(Universal Pictures)的一名女发言人称，下一部影片的部分镜头可能会在古巴拍摄。该发言人接着表示，公司“目前正在争取获得美国和古巴政府的批准”。

and Cuban filmmakers have been fielding inquiries. “There isn’t a day that I am not meeting with a potential client from the United States,” said Oscar Ernesto Ortega, 29, whose El Central Producciones produces music videos, commercials and documentaries for clients like the Puerto Rican band Calle 13 and Red Bull Media House from offices in Miami and Havana.

古巴的电影人也一直在打听。“我没有哪天不是在接待美国来的潜在客户，”29岁的奥斯卡·埃内斯托(Oscar Ernesto)说。他所在的中心制片公司(El Central Producciones)为波多黎各乐队“13街”(Calle 13)及红牛媒体公司(Red Bull Media House)等客户摄制音乐视频、广告和纪录片。制作工作在该公司设在迈阿密和哈瓦那的办公场所进行。

Boris Crespo, founder of BIC Producciones, in Havana, said he had been working flat out for the past year, providing production services for Conan O’Brien’s four-day visit to Cuba last year and the History channel’s “Top Gear,” which filmed an episode in Cuba in January.

哈瓦那BIC制片公司(BIC Producciones)创始人鲍里斯·克雷斯波(Boris Crespo)称，去年一年，他一直在满负荷工作，为科南·奥布莱恩(Conan O’Brien)去年在古巴停留四天，以及历史频道1月在古巴拍摄的一集“极速巅峰”(Top Gear)提供制作服务。

Mr. Carnahan, who worked with Island Film, another Havana production company, said he was struck by the “passionate” crew and the quality of Cuban actors. (The “House of Lies” shoot was planned before the new regulations went into effect, so producers had to get a license from the Treasury Department.)

和哈瓦那另一家制片公司海岛电影(Island Film)合作的卡纳汉表示，他被古巴剧组人员的“热情”和古巴演员的素质所打动。（《谎言屋》的拍摄是在新规生效前安排的，因此制片方必须得到财政部的许可。）

What Cuba is missing, he said, are decent cellphone connections, fast Internet access and even “basic things — hammers — things that we don’t give much thought to.”

卡纳汉说，古巴缺的是像样的手机信号、较快的网络接入，甚至“像锤子这种我们没太在意的基本用品”。

and the process of procuring shooting permits was extremely slow, he said.

获得拍摄许可的过程极其缓慢，他说。

Mr. Crespo said that the state-funded Cuban Institute of Cinematic art and Industry “drowns in its own bureaucracy.”

克雷斯波说，政府资助的古巴电影艺术与工业研究所(Cuban Institute of Cinematic art and Industry)“受制于自身的官僚体制”。

Some Cuban filmmakers worry that american producers will steer clear of controversial themes in order to get permission to film from Cuban cultural authorities, who require all filmmakers to submit a synopsis or script of their project. Mr. Carnahan said that the “House of Lies” script was reviewed by the Cuban culture ministry, but that the authorities requested no changes and had “a sense of humor about the material,” which ribbed Cuban bureaucracy.

一些古巴电影人担心，美国的制片方会有意避开有争议的主题，以便获得古巴文化部门的拍摄许可。古巴的文化部门要求所有制片方提交拍摄项目的剧情梗概或剧本。卡纳汉称古巴文化部检查了《谎言屋》的剧本，但表示当局未要求修改，而且“对题材很有幽默感”。该剧的拍摄内容是拿古巴的官僚体制打趣。

But Cuban filmmakers said the authorities were intolerant of works that touched on issues like the early treatment of H.I.V.-positive Cubans or the culture of citizens spying on one another, topics that have been covered in their films.

但古巴的电影人表示，如果作品触及HIV病毒阳性患者的早期治疗，或古巴民众相互监视的文化现象，当局是不能容忍的。他们的电影关注的便是这类题材。

Mr. Lechuga said that his first feature, “Melaza,” about a destitute former sugar-producing town, which was shown at the Havana film festival in 2012 and won an independent critics’ prize, was not released in Cuban theaters for nearly a year, and then only in one cinema.

莱丘加称，他的第一部长片《蜜糖》(Melaza)讲述的故事关于一个曾是产糖基地的贫困小镇。影片在2012年的哈瓦那电影节上放映，并荣获“独立影评人奖”，但在之后近一年的时间里并未在古巴放映，后来也只在一家影院上映。

“The government doesn’t mind if you shoot ‘Fast & Furious’ here, but it doesn’t want the local industry to make movies about our reality,” he said.

“政府不介意在这里拍《速度与激情》，但它不想让国内电影业拍摄关于现实生活的电影，”他说。

Lazaro Gonzalez Gonzalez, whose documentary about cross-dressing performers, “Mascaras” (2014), has had a very limited release in Cuba, said he hoped the new rules would make it easier to distribute work in the United States.

拉萨罗·冈萨雷斯·冈萨雷斯(Lazaro Gonzalez Gonzalez)表示，希望新规能减少在美国发行影片的难度。他2014年的纪录片作品《面具》(Mascaras)把镜头对准了异装演出的表演者，在古巴只进行了非常有限的放映。

Currently, only a few organizations, like the Vermont nonprofit americas Media Initiative, distribute Cuban independent films in the United States. Broader, commercial releases would generate more income, Mr. Gonzalez said.

目前，只有少数几个组织，如佛蒙特州的非营利机构“美洲媒体倡议”(americas Media Initiative)，在美国发行古巴的独立电影。冈萨雷斯称，更广泛的商业放映会带来更多收入。

Claudia Calvi , executive producer at Producciones de la 5ta avenida, said she was disappointed that americans, so far, did not seem interested in co-productions. Her company has been involved in a handful of such films with European producers, like “Hotel Nueva Isla” (2014), a feature-length portrait of life in an abandoned hotel that she produced with El Viaje Films of Spain. She said no american filmmaker had asked what 5ta avenida was working on or talked about developing joint projects.

第五大道制作公司(Producciones de la 5ta avenida)执行制作人克洛迪娅·卡尔维诺(Claudia Calvi )称她感到失望，因为迄今为止，美国人似乎无意于联合摄制电影。她所在的公司和欧洲制片方合作，参与了几部影片的拍摄，如《新州旅店》(Hotel Nueva Isla)。她与西班牙旅行影业(El Viaje Films)共同制作的《新州旅店》是一部电影长片，描述的是一家废弃旅馆里的生活。她说，没有哪个美国电影人问过第五大道公司在做什么项目，或是讨论发展合作项目。

Still, the détente has spurred exchanges. During Havana’s film festival in December, a delegation of actors, directors and writers organized by the Sundance Institute’s feature film program offered workshops on screenwriting, production, documentary editing and scoring for film.

但两国关系的改善推动了双方的交流。在去年12月的哈瓦那电影节期间，圣丹斯学院(Sundance Institute)长片项目组织了一个由演员、导演和编剧组成的代表团，开办了以剧本创作、制片、纪录片剪辑和电影配乐为主题的研讨班。

Ethan Hawke, who was part of the group, told reporters at the time that he wanted to film an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s “Camino Real.” He confirmed his plans in a statement to The New York Times, and said he been scouting Havana.

当时，作为代表团成员之一的伊桑·霍克对记者表示，他想改编田纳西·威廉斯(Tennessee Williams)的《国王大道》(Camino Real)。他在发给《纽约时报》的一份声明中证实了自己的计划，并称他一直在哈瓦那选角。

Michelle Satter, director of the Sundance feature film program, said the détente was a chance to exchange ideas with, and help train, the next generation of Cuban filmmakers.

圣丹斯电影长片项目主任米歇尔·萨特(Michelle Satter)称，两国关系缓和是与古巴下一代电影人交流思想，并通过培训帮助他们成长的机会。

“We’re listening,” she said by telephone from Los angeles. “We want to hear these stories.”

“我们正在倾听，”她在洛杉矶接受电话采访时说。“我们希望听到这些故事。”

Mr. Carnahan said that he was pondering a Cuban project — to improve access to equipment, say, or to help them tighten up scripts.

卡纳汉称，他正在琢磨一个针对古巴的项目，比方说让他们更方便地使用设备，或是帮他们润色剧本。

and there were plenty of stories in Cuba, he said.

他说，古巴有很多故事。

“It’s so interesting there right now,” he said, “I wish I could just sit there with a bag of popcorn and watch.

“那里现在太有意思了，”他说。“我希望能拿着一袋爆米花，坐在那里看。”