Stam, one of the two protagonists of the new documentary "Buffalo Girls," doing sit-ups. (Todd Kellstein) 主角之一的”Stam“训练中。
Stam and Pet are two eight-year-old Thai girls — but don't let looks fool you. They are also professional Muay Thai prizefighters, among the 30,000 child boxers in Thailand. The new documentary Buffalo Girls chronicles the young girls' journey to help provide for their families and improve their standard of living by fighting in local arenas and ultimately competing for prize money in the national Muay Thai championship.
Stam和Pet是两个8岁的小女孩，不过不要让第一印象影响你的判断，她们都是泰拳职业选手，在泰国像她们这样的儿童拳手有3万个，这些儿童拳手之所以从事这一活动主要是为了养家挣钱，最终目标是泰拳国家冠军的奖金。"水牛女孩"就是记录她们的一部影片。
Todd Kellstein, whose original background was in music videos, working with artists such as Bon Jovi and Sum 41, decided to switch gears and ventured out on his own to produce his first feature-length documentary exploring the state of Thailand's underground child boxing economy.
制作者Todd Kellstein原来是拍音乐片的和很多的艺术家合作过，他决定换换方向尝试着拍摄一部长篇记录电影曝光泰国的地下儿童搏击经济活动。
Buffalo Girls premiered at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah before being screened at the Human Rights Film Festival in Australia, the United Nations Association Film Festival and other notable film festivals. The documentary opens in New York City at the IFC Center this Wednesday, November 14, and atLaemmle's NOHO 7 in Los Angeles on December 7.
"水牛女孩"首映是在2012犹他州公园城的Slamdance 电影节然后是在澳大利亚的人权电影节上展映，之后在联合国协会电影节等一系列电影节上展出。
We asked Kellstein a few questions via email about his film.
通过电邮我们询问了Kellstein一些关于影片的问题。
How did you come across Stam and Pet, the two subjects of the film?
你如何与影片中的两个主角Stam和Pet相识？
I met Stam at a provincial fair in Chonburi. She was fighting across from the buffalo races with another small girl named Tuk. I was curious as to why the kids were fighting at such a young age, without headgear or pads. I asked her why she was fighting, and she told me "for money." That's when I decided to make a film and tell the story of these kids. I met Pet some months later. Stam fought her, and lost. We decided to follow Pet's story after that as well. The two live very far from each other, so we decided to live some of the time in Rayong, near Stam, and some of the time by Pet so we could spend time with both kids.
我见到Stam是在泰国Chonburi省的省级比赛上，她当时正在与另一个名叫Tuk的小姑娘比赛，我对这些小选手这么小就参与这种不穿着保护器材的搏击比赛的原因有些好奇，我问她干嘛参加这个？她告诉我，为了钱。这让我决定拍一部片子讲述这些孩子的故事。我遇到Pet是在几个月后，Stam对Pet的搏击比赛失败了，我们决定继续跟随Pet的脚步完成这个故事。这两个孩子各自居住地之间相聚遥远，所以我们决定一些时间住在Rayong方便靠近Stam，另一些时候则在Pet那里，我们和这两个孩子都度过了一段时光。
What was it like filming the matches, and generally speaking, the environment you were in? What were some of the challenges?
你在纪录片中的比赛现场感觉如何？对你来说挑战是什么？
Over the years of filming, we filmed and attended at least 200 fights. The atmosphere at all of the fights can be very confusing to a foreigner. It's loud, with cheering, bettors shouting odds across the ring, and the musicians playing along with the matches. At first it was very challenging because I didn't fully understand the betting structure of the fights, and I didn't understand Thai well enough to follow the announcers. That made it very difficult to follow conversations in the kid's corners, or even know who won a fight after it was over. With only one camera, it's important to know these things to make sure we're covering the fight properly. After some time, I was finally able to understand enough to follow the fights. Also, once my translator became used to what I wanted to shoot, she was able to point me in the right direction so I didn't miss important conversations!
经历了这些年的这部片子的拍摄，我们共记录了最少200场的搏击，对外国人来说这些搏击现场的氛围总的来说十分闹心，嘈杂的叫好声，呼喝赌博下注的吆喝声，还有比赛时伴随的音乐声，形成巨大的声浪。最大的挑战是对比赛的理解，因为我对比赛的流程还不清楚，我对泰拳也不懂，听不懂裁判的判决，这造成我们对孩子们在比赛休息区的交谈理解都很困难，甚至最后谁赢谁输都弄不清楚。我们只有一个拍摄镜头，这决定了我们必须准确的捕捉比赛的关键瞬间，经历了一段时间后，我终于能够正确的融入搏击比赛的过程，并且我的翻译也在比赛中指引出一些我想拍摄的关键场景，这让我没有错失一些重要的交谈过程。
Emotionally, it was very challenging. Since I was so close to Stam and Pet, I found myself cheering for them during fights. Of course that's natural, but when the situation involves little kids, both of whom are fighting for money they need to help their families, it becomes problematic; you want all of the kids to do well. Sadly, in boxing there's one winner and one loser. It's heartbreaking to see a little one with so much responsibility lose a match.
这一过程对我的情感是一次重大的挑战，自从我与Stam和Pet熟识后，我会不由自主的在比赛时为她们加油，这当然很正常，不过当这涉及到这些为了挣点养家钱的小不点这就成了问题。你想让这些所有的小拳手们都如愿，现实却是搏击场上总是一赢一输，看到那个承担着养家重任的小拳手在比赛中失败实在是令人心碎。
What were your initial thoughts on child boxing, and how have they changed over time?
你最初对儿童搏击比赛的看法是什么，之后这些看法又有什么改变？
My first reaction to seeing the kids fight, without and pads or headgear, was that it was dangerous and horrific. But I saw something in the pride the kids were taking in doing something to help their families. That was what initially inspired me to make the film. Of course, my Western sensibilities were hard to overcome. My thinking was to make a film that would highlight what these kids do, why they do it, and inspire people to try and stop it. Over my years of filming, it became clear that as a foreigner, I was in no place to judge something that is so deeply interwoven into another culture. We went from making a call-to-action film, to a culturally relativistic film that simply shows the hard work and sacrifice these kids put into what they do.
我对这种不穿着保护设备的儿童搏击的最初反映是觉得危险和糟糕，不过当我看到一些孩子通过参与这一活动得以养家而表现出的自豪，引起了我想拍这样一部片子的想法，当然，我的西方价值观很难被改变，我的想法是通过这部纪录片彰显这些孩子们为自己家庭所做的努力，为什么他们得这么做，让人们关注这一现象而制止它继续下去。经历拍摄的这些年，我清楚的发现作为一个外国人我没有资格去对这一深深植根于另一文化之中的现象指手画脚，这一部朴实记录孩子们努力拼搏和奉献牺牲的纪录片的期望目标也就被从召唤关注转移到到文化对比上。
Can you talk about the motivation to tell this story and the stance the film takes?
能说一下讲述这一故事的动机和电影的立场吗？
We tried very hard not to take a stance in the film. I have a very great admiration for all of the kids I met that work so hard to help their families, but in the editing process we tried to remain as objective as possible. My point is to start a conversation about economic inequality, and the lengths people will go to in order to overcome incredibly difficult economic circumstances and realize the dreams we all have: A stable family, a home, educational opportunities, and food on the table.
我们十分努力的试着不在影片里展示立场，我非常钦佩这些遇到的为了帮助她们的家人而努力打拼的小孩子，但是在纪录片最后编辑过程中我们则尽可能的保持它的客观性，我的目的在于展开一段关于经济的不平等的对话，要求大人们将去尽一切可能克服如此严峻的经济危机实现一些我们共同的梦想：一个稳定的家庭，一个家，教育机会还有桌子上的食物。
As a side note to that, both Stam and Pet are profit-sharing in the film, assuming we make any profit! We are also looking into partnering with NGOs in the area of Issan to see if there is any way the film could help kids and their families.
最后补充一下，如果这部片子能够够有些收益，如果它有的话，Stam和Pet将共享收益。我们还和非政府组织结成伙伴将利用这部电影尽可能帮助这些孩子和她们的家人。
Where are Stam and Pet today?
I can't tell you how the film ends! You'll have to check on our website, or the DVD extras after the film's release, to find out what they're doing now.
现在Stam 和 Pet 在哪里？
我不能告诉你这部电影的结局！你可以去我们的网站上看看或者在电影公映后的DVD中寻找她们的身影。
