宋丹丹女儿荣获美国杰出女导演奖

After reading newspaper articles about an epidemic of teen suicides on Indian reservations, the soft-spoken Zhao, who was living in the hippest part of Brooklyn at the time, earned her driver’s license, packed up an old car and set out in search of a story to tell.

温文尔雅的赵婷住在布鲁克林最时髦的地方，当她看了报纸上关于青少年自杀事件的报道后，她考了驾照，弄了一辆旧车，开始寻找故事来源。

Having spent a dozen years living in the U.S., the Beijing-born filmmaker, then 29, wanted to explore themes of identity and belonging. She ended up at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation just south of Badlands National Park in South Dakota?—a rugged land of buttes and grassy prairie where inspiration hit her “like a tsunami.” She connected deeply with the landscape and the people of Pine Ridge, a place that inspired her first two feature films and ultimately shaped her creative approach: using natural environments and non-professional actors to tell stories that reflect real life. Often, the characters in her films are based on the people playing them.

在美国生活了十几年。这位出生于北京的电影制作人，当时29岁，想要寻找关于身份和归属感的为主题的故事。她最终在松树岭印第安人保留地荒地南的国家公园在南达科他州（崎岖不平的山丘和长满草的草原）灵感突至。她常来观看当地的风景并和松树岭的人们保持联系，这是她创作的前两部故事片的灵感来源，并最终塑造了她的创作手法:利用自然环境和非专业演员来讲述真实生活的故事。通常，她的电影里的人物都是来源于剧中的那些真实演员。

Zhao’s latest film, The Rider, is set for release on April 13. The story of a Native American rodeo cowboy was nominated for four Spirit Awards this year, including best feature and best director. Inspired by and starring a horse trainer Zhao met in Pine Ridge, The Rider has been hailed by critics since it premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

赵婷的最新电影《骑士》将于4月13日上映。美国本土牛仔竞技牛仔的故事在今年获得了四项精神奖项的提名，其中包括最佳剧情片和最佳导演奖。在去年的戛纳电影节上，《骑士》在戛纳电影节上首映，灵感来源于赵婷在青松岭遇到的驯马师。自去年戛纳电影节首映以来，《骑士》就受到了评论家们的好评。

Zhao feels at home in the United States, largely because it is filled with people who aren’t quite at home. “I didn’t feel 100-percent Chinese or English or American,” Zhao says. “I like being here because there are a lot of people like me.” She also felt like she fit in at Pine Ridge. A slight woman with light brown skin and long dark hair, Zhao says she could be mistaken for Native American. The community welcomed her right away. “That place has such a strong sense of identity, and you just feel like you’re part of that.” This sense of belonging has not faded with time.

在美国，赵感觉就像在家一样，很大程度上是因为这里挤满了不太熟悉的人。“因为这里并不是百分之百的中国人，也不是英国人，也不是美国人，”赵说。“我喜欢呆在这里，因为有很多像我这样的人。”她也觉得自己融入了松岭。浅棕色皮肤、头发又长又黑使得她可能被误认为是美国原住民，因此社区也很欢迎她。“那个地方有强烈的认同感，你只是觉得自己是其中的一部分。”这种归属感并没有随着时间的流逝而褪色。

Zhao has also been embraced by the filmmaking community. Forest Whitaker supported her Songs My Brother Taught Me as a producer. Last fall, Werner Herzog’s foundation awarded The Rider with its annual grant for “a special achievement in innovation, courage and vision.”

赵婷也受到了电影制作界的欢迎。惠特克为她的歌《哥哥教我唱的歌》提供了制片人。去年秋天，维尔纳赫尔佐格基金会授予《骑士》年度优秀奖，表彰她“在创新、勇气和远见方面取得的非凡成就”。

Now, as Zhao prepares to enter the next phase of her career, there’s the Bonnie Award. She accepted the prize in January, at the Film Independent Spirit Awards brunch. Before announcing Zhao’s name, actress and presenter Alia Shawkat said the judging committee was “blown away by the winning filmmaker’s latest films and can’t overstate how eager they are to support this artist on her path to her next project.”

现在，当赵婷准备进入她职业生涯的下一个阶段时，她获得了邦妮奖。她在今年1月的电影独立精神奖晚宴中接受奖项。在宣布赵婷的名字之前，演员兼主持人Alia Shawkat这样描述“评委们被这位导演的最新电影深深吸引，他们恨不得马上资助这位导演进行下一部电影的拍摄”。