Smeared Type

Audience at Q & A with Jian and Lisa after watching Mulberry Child

All three screenings of Mulberry Child at the Gene Siskel Film Center were sold out.  I was amazed and touched that the audiences of different ages and backgrounds connected with our life stories!

At our 2^nd screening, I was pleased to see a number of Chinese in the audience. I was most eager to hear what they had to say. The moment I stepped down from the podium after Q & A, a young Chinese woman in her 20s stood up from her front row seat and hugged me.

“Thank you for sharing your story,” she said in a low voice. I realized she was crying.

I put my arms around her as she laid her head over my left shoulder and sobbed. Two of her friends stood by, their eyes welled up with tears.

The young woman lifted her head and gave me an embarrassed smile, wiping away her tears.

“It’s OK,” I said, padding her on her back as she lowered her head over my shoulder again.

Lisa and Jian addressing audience's questions

“Just call your mother tonight and tell her you love her, too,” I said, trying to make it light.

A young Chinese couple, both graduate students from UIC, waited patiently as our conversation kept being interrupted by friends who came to give their congratulations and bid farewell. It turned out that they both came from Changchun, the city where I was born.

“We never learned much about the Cultural Revolution,” the wife said. “I feel I get to know my parents much more by watching your film.”

I was deeply moved by their reaction and comments.

More than two dozens of people lingered behind and talked until the staff at the Gene Siskel Film Center called out to close the theatre at 11 p.m.

The last screening was equally moving. Only one or two people left when we started the Q & A. I felt the connection from the audience and took turns with my daughter Lisa to address their questions on China, our relationship, and the impact of the film on us.

The next day, I found one posting from a Chinese woman named Li. I remembered talking to her the night before. She was Lisa’s age. She wrote: “Every Chinese should watch this film.”

Jian with graduate students from IIT

I received numerous moving comments from my friends via email during the week after the screenings. I was so touched that I selected a few each day to forward to my director Susan and executive producer Ellis, stating these are the “love letters of the day.”

Mulberry Child was so well received by the audience that the Gene Siskel Film Center invited us to come back for a weeklong screening from March 30 to April 5, with 11 shows. The Chicago Public Library also invited us to participate in the spring’s One Book, One Chicago program, stating Mulberry Child would be a “wonderful companion” to the selected book, so we formed a three-way partnership.

I’ve committed to do Q & A with Lisa at the last screening of each day during the screening period. I look forward to connect directly with as many viewers as possible.

Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China, which has been developed into a feature-length documentary film by Susan Morgan Cooper and narrated by Jacqueline Bisset.

At the reception of Mulberry Child

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 21, the reception area at the Gene Siskel Film Center became alive with the arrival of our friends, friends’ friends and Mulberry Child’s viewers who had all managed to purchase their tickets in advance.

We had a pre-screening reception, sponsored by Wintrust Commercial Bank. Our first screening in Chicago was sold out three weeks before the scheduled date. Each of us, my executive director Ellis, my daughter Lisa, and I, had received emails or phone calls from friends who tried to get help from us to buy tickets. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to any—they were all sold out. In the end, I even gave my ticket to a friend.

I was very touched by the support we had received in Chicago and the overwhelmingly positive response from the audience at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis and more recently, the Palm Springs International Film Festival where we had sold out screenings and was selected as “Best of the Fest”, an honor bestowed to only 14 films out of 188 from 73 countries at the festival. We were thrilled.

With Lisa and her friends

Last week in Chicago, shortly before our premiere, we were overjoyed to read Roger Ebert‘s review of Mulberry Child, with a rating of 3.5 stars out of 4. My director Susan was in tears when she heard the news. “Roger Ebert is my god,” she said, referring to his highly-respected film critic voice in the industry.  “You have no idea what an honor that is,” she said to me.

I think I got the idea when Phil Ponce, anchor of the Chicago Tonight Show, opened his interview with me about the film with Roger Ebert’s rating last week.

“This is a powerful and touching film,” Roger Ebert wrote.

We were all “over the moon,” to use a word Ellis said. Indeed, we all felt overjoyed and honored.

At the reception on Saturday, I did the best I could welcome people, only to regret that I had no time or opportunity to introduce them to Susan and Ellis.

I was especially pleased that Lisa introduced me to a few of her friends.

“Tell me if you still love her after watching the film,” I joked with them.

“They will,” Lisa cut in, a big smile crossing her face. “Because they are my friends!”

With my friend and fellow writer Jennifer Anton

We had plenty of food and drink at the reception. Shortly before 8 p.m., everyone walked into the theatre for the screening. Lisa, my supportive husband Francis, Chao, an ITT student who was working with me throughout the evening, and I were the only people remained in the reception area. Lisa and I had both given out our tickets to our friends, and even if we had tickets, we might not have the nerve to watch the film with so many people who know personally, a big difference from attending film festivals at other cities.

We walked into the theatre for Q & A a few minutes before the end of the film. The theatre was very quiet, except for an occasional sniffing from one seat or another, indicating someone was crying. A mere glance on the screen on which my father was giving me his last wave shortly before his passing brought tears to my eyes.

We had a long Q & A session and most of the people in the audience stayed until the last minute.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Roger Ebert’s full review:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120118/REVIEWS/120119987

Interview with Phil Ponce on Chicago Tonight Show, WTTW:

http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2012/01/19/mulberry-child

Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China.

We finished PSIFF with a bang!

In the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 14, the eagerly expected list of the “Best of the Fest” was announced. We, the entire crew of Mulberry Child, were thrilled to see (or hear from immediate phone calls or emails) that Mulberry Child was among the 14 narrative and documentary films included in the “Best of the Fest”. There were more than 180 films attending PSIFF, and we all felt so excited and honored that Mulberry Child was regarded as one of the best films at this prestigious festival!

Today Camelot and Regal, the two theatres engaged with PSIFF, will be showing the “Best of the Fest” starting at 10 a.m. Mulberry Child is scheduled for screening at 6 p.m. at the Camelot theatre. See list and screening time at the link below:

http://www.psfilmfest.org//_uploaded/psiff12bestoffestflyerpreliminarylist_774383.pdf

Lisa answering audience's question after a screening of Mulberry Child

We are looking forward to the screenings of Mulberry Child at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Jan. 21, 24 and 26 (tickets for Jan. 21 have been sold out, but the other two days are still available) in Chicago, and at the Sedona International Film Festival in February.

Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China. The feature-length documentary film based on the book is directed by Susan Morgan Cooper and narrated by Jacqueline Bisset.

Lisa and "Nainai"

We had our second sold-out screening at the Regale 9 theatre on Tuesday, Jan. 10. I watched the film on the large screen for the 5^th time and found myself still shedding tears at a few scenes that were so personal to me.

We had a long and animated Q & A session after the screening. A special surprise and delight for me for this screening was to meet “Nainai”, who was 80 years old. Her daughter and son-in-law accompanied her all the way from Los Angeles to attend the screening. I loved her grandmotherly image in the film and was thrilled to hug her and call her “Nainai.”

At Regale 9 Theater

I was able to watch a couple of other films at the Festival while Lisa worked away at her computer or on conference calls most of the time, taking care of her daytime job. During the first 4 days of the film festival, we had two television interviews with KVCR_TV host Gloria Greer and local CBS,  and two radio interviews with Charlie Dyer and Bill Feingold at KNEWS FM 94.3, and attended Variety‘s photo op at the critics’ award luncheon where we faced numerous cameras like a movie star.

We received a lot of positive feedback on the film from fellow filmmakers, festival staff and the audience. We also got several invitations to attend other film festivals. We were thrilled by the response.

Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China, which has been developed into a feature-length documentary film by Susan Morgan Cooper and narrated by Jacqueline Bisset.

Jian, Susan and Lisa, brushing shoulders with the stars at PSIFF

I heard the cheers and yelling from the balcony of my hotel room before arriving at the 23^rd Annual International Awards Gala. I realized the walk on the red carpet had already started. Lisa and I rushed to the hotel lobby in our evening gowns and high heels and joined Susan to go to the Palm Springs Convention Center located half a block away where the Awards Gala was held.

The dark night was illuminated by flashlights from countless cameras as hundreds of people lined up on both sides of the street to watch the arrival of film stars. Everyone attending the Gala appeared as glamorous in their tuxedos and evening dresses as the stars.

The stars. I had never seen any film stars in person before. Watching them step out of their stretch limos and hearing the roar of the crowd, it felt so unreal. Through a forest of raised cameras, I saw George Clooney posing for the paparazzi, Tom Hanks waving, and Jessica Chastain smiling…. Lisa couldn’t resist the temptation to take snap shots of a few stars with her iPhone.

We filed into the Convention Center slowly, accompanied by the clicking and flashing of cameras. We found Ellis and Gillian, already inside, waiting for us at the entrance of the enormous auditorium where formal dinning tables were set up for a record attendance of 1,900 people. A large bunch of purple tulips was displayed on each table as a center piece, lightening up the atmosphere. Waiters dressed in white and black uniforms managed to walk around offering various appetizers, and people gathered in small groups chatting or looking for more opportunities to see the stars.

We eventually made our way to our table, 401, at the 4^th row from the front, a very good seating. Lisa disappeared from us to take more photos of the celebrities as they walked to their tables.

Harold Matzner, Chairman of the Festival, gave a welcome speech; Mary Hart acted as MC of the ceremony. As the evening unfolded, numerous actors and filmmakers were presented with awards, including Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Brat Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Michelle Williams. As their awards were being announced by equally renowned actors such as Tom Hanks and Al Pacino, clippings of their performances were presented on the three large screens in the front. Waves of cheers and applause filled the auditorium.

It was amazing to see all these stars in person, and surprisingly, they appeared somehow smaller in real life than their images on the film screen.

Hours later, as we walked out of the auditorium to attend the “by-invitation only” after party at the Parker Hotel, my feet were killing me. I wonder how many of the women, who were walking with their heads up and chests high, were experiencing the same kind of pains.

Once outside, I was surprised to see hundreds of people were still waiting outside behind the security lines to see the stars. Despite the exerted efforts of traffic control, numerous limos stood still on the street, unable to move on. There was no way for Ellis to get his car anytime soon, so we walked the short distance to our hotel. By the time he finally came to take us to the after party, Susan and I had changed into more comfortable shoes, though Lisa braved through the rest of the night in her high heels.

Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China, which has been made into a feature-length documentary film by Susan Morgan Cooper and narrated by Jacqueline Bisset.

Jian and Jodi who performed Jian as a child met at the theatre at PSIFF

I arrived at the Regal Theatre to attend the 1^st screening of Mulberry Child shortly after 12 noon on Saturday and was surprised to see two long lines of people in front of the entrance. I had never been to this theatre before and thought one had to wait to get in for all the screenings.

“Jennifer,” a man in the line waved to me.

It took me a second to recognize Sean Valla, my film editor. I met Sean quite a few times during the editing process of the film in Los Angeles and was always impressed by his dedication and patience combing through mountains of footage and the endless close ups of my face for all the interviews that my director Susan conducted.

I was thrilled to see him and surprised to learn the two lines were all for entry to the screening of Mulberry Child: one line for ticket holders and the other, people standing by for the possibility of getting in at the last minute, for tickets had been sold out the week before. My heart skipped a beat.

By the time I managed to get into the theatre, my executive producer Ellis and his wife Gillian and Susan were already there. I saw the theatre was nearly full and felt sorry that many people waiting outside wouldn’t be able to come in.

Susan tapped me on my shoulder. “I want you to meet Jodi,” she said.

I looked at the little girl by her side. Jodi performed the 6-year-old me in the film and I had never met her before.

I wrapped Jodi in my arms. “You did a wonderful job,” I murmured in her ear.

Jodi gave her shy smile and looked at me with an expression I had seen so many times on the screen.

Jian and Lisa after Q & A when Jian signed books for interested viewers

I scanned the audience and was thrilled to see a few familiar faces, including Quyen Tran, my cinematographer and her husband, Sam, Eli Bergmann, my book editor, and his girlfriend Lily. They had driven all the way from Los Angeles to watch the film. I also noticed Chaz Ebert sitting next to Ellis, and a couple rows below, Norman Mark and his beautiful wife Grace. I was touched.by all the support.

Half way through the film, Lisa was ushered into the theatre. She had just flown in from Chicago this morning to attend the Q & A and I was relieved that she made it on time.

As it was at the Heartland Film Festival, many people in the audience asked questions about the film, my parents and their views on the Cultural Revolution, and Lisa’s on-going process of identifying with her Chinese roots. When the Q & A session ended, quite a few people lingered behind and continued the discussion. Once Chinese man’s comments particularly touched me.

“I also come from the Northeast of China,” he said, as we shook hands. “I was sent to the countryside for six years,” he continued. “I very much like the presentation of that historical period in your film as it was done sensibly, not an over kill.”

It meant so much to me the remark came from someone who had lived through the Cultural Revolution in China.

Once again, I was overwhelmed and touched by the reaction from the audience.

Image by bamalibrarylady via Flickr

I arrived to the beautiful sunshine at Palm Springs yesterday afternoon. After checking in at the Renaissance Hotel and getting my credentials at the hospitality room at the hotel, I got together with Ellis, my film executive producer, and Susan, my director.

We started this exciting film festival by attending a private party in the home of Brenda, a former film commissioner in Illinois. Brenda lives in Palm Springs now, but because of her Chicago ties, there were many people from Chicago and the midwest were there, including Chaz Ebert, Roger Ebert’s wife and Morman Mark, a former Chicago TV host and journalist. I was trilled to meet her and many others.

Listing of Mulberry Child in the program of PSIFF

Early this morning, I went out for a hike on a trail behind the Art Museum, about 6 blocks away from the hotel. I waited until daylight to get on the trail and was soon captivated by the tranquility of the sprawling mountain ranges around me. I was relieved to see another hiker half way up a hill and watched him disappear as I stopped to admire the scenes of the valley.

Despite my fear of getting lost, I couldn’t resist the temptation of going higher and reaching one and then another peak. When I finally sat down on the flat surface of a large rock, I found myself bathed in the warmth of the rising sun. I extended my arms toward the blue sky, my thoughts turning to my grandmother and father, wishing that somewhere up there, they could see me and know I was here to tell their life stories on the screen to a large audience.  Memories of my childhood flooded back, with grandma’s smiling face vividly in my mind. Watching the valley below me—dotted with palm trees and swimming pools, I found it hard to believe this was reality. Tears came to my eyes as I told Grandma that her legacy would live on through generations to come…

The first screening of Mulberry Child is at 12:30 p.m. today. As I descended quickly down the trail, I wiped away the tears of gratitude and joy and felt more determined and energized than ever before.

Jian Ping, author Mulberry Child: a Memoir of Child.

The feature-length documentary film Mulberry Child started 2012 with a bang.

It kicked off the year with the star-filled Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) beginning on January 5. Mulberry Child has the honor of being officially selected and a week before the start of the Festival, tickets for the two screenings at the Regale 9 theatre were sold out! A blessed headache, for my executive producer has been receiving emails and phone calls from friends who couldn’t get tickets anymore.

Shortly after the PSIFF, we will return to Chicago to participate in the “Stranger than Fiction” documentary series. Mulberry Child has three scheduled screenings, 8 p.m. on Jan. 21, 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 4, and 8 p.m. on Jan. 26. Even before our press release being sent out to any media, many tickets have been purchased in advance. Last night I received a call from Ray, a long-time friend who informed me that he had gathered a group of 21 people to come to the Saturday show on Jan. 21. “I called the theatre on Sunday and learned only 40 tickets were left for the screening on Jan. 21,” he said. (posting and trailer of lm at Siskel Center: http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/mulberry-child)

I was touched by such interest and support. I know many of my friends and readers are coming to the screenings at the Siskel Center. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Unlike attending to screenings at other cities where I don’t know any audience personally, or rather, anyone in the audience don’t know me personally, Chicago shows will be different. I wonder how my friends will react to the film and the relationship between my daughter, Lisa, and me!

I’ll have my chance to find that out, for Lisa and I, together with my director Susan who will fly in from Los Angeles, will be at each screening for Q & A. I can hardly wait!

Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China.

Pearl River covered in smog in the middle of a day in Guangzhou

It’s been nearly a month since my last posting, the longest elapse of time ever! It’s scary to think how time flies.

I was in China most of the time in December, visiting Beijing (a couple of business meetings with publishers and a fun day with my childhood girlfriend Xiuyan), Changchun (spending a week of cozy time with my mother and sisters and extended family members), Guangzhou (visiting my sister Ping’s family, including her 3-year-old grandson whom I met for the 1^st time), and Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau for fun.

I had a great time and was once again amazed by the speed of development in each of the cities in mainland China. However, I was also appalled by the extent of the air pollution in every single city I visited and the large crowd of people everywhere I turned. Many times I had to be careful not to bounce into others walking on the streets or in any public area. My lungs were congested from day one and by the time I left, I was coughing like an old lady and suffering from a bad cold. I wonder how these cities can support such large population in 10 or 20 years!

Children singing Christmas songs at our hotel in HK

I love traveling despite the hassles that are bound to happen when you are on the road; however, each time after an extended period of time being away, I also love the feeling of returning home. This time, I was particularly appreciative of the chilly yet much fresher air I breathed upon landing in Chicago.

Jian Ping is the author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China. Mulberry Child has been developed into a feature-length documentary film by award-winning director Susan Morgan Cooper and is narrated by Jacqueline Bisset.

by Nancy Werking Poling

author of Had Eve Come First and Jonah Been a Woman

and Out of the Pumpkin Shell

Should a network decide to feature my daily life in a reality show—yes, it would bore most viewers. But there would be additional hurdles. A man who hates women could complain that I’m too ordinary. The public needs to see emasculating women, he might say, ones who beat their children, too. A young woman starting a career might also find fault in my ordinariness. The public needs to see older female managers who have clawed their way to the top and terrorize those who work under them.

True, I do not represent the total nature of womanhood.

The problem with All-American Muslim, according to the Florida Family Association, a Christian organization, is that the Muslim families featured in the TV show “appear to be ordinary folks.” Florida Family criticizes the show for “excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish.”

Ordinary folks, I take it, are those who defy the stereotypes of the dominant culture. They’re intelligent, hard-working. They struggle with how to raise their children, make a living, buy a house.

Growing up in the racially segregated South, I attended all-white schools. I accepted white generalizations about blacks: they were lazy, violent, and undeserving of the good education I had access to. Only as I learned to know ordinary African Americans, did I understand the harm such a limited perspective inflicts on a whole group and of the wasted intellect and creativity that might have benefitted the wider society.

Our country has gone through periods in which the dominant culture labeled all Irish as dirty and lazy, Jews as money-grabbing, Indians as savages. When we remove ordinary people from a grouping, we give ourselves reason to take away their rights, ghettoize them, terrorize them. Only when we learn to know ordinary Irish, indigenous peoples, Jews, Muslims, and homosexuals can we see our shared humanity.

I can’t help but consider the logic of wanting a TV series to include radical, militant Islamists. What if it were Christian families a reality show was featuring? Should it include members of the Ku Klux Klan? They claim to be Christians. Would we include Christians who feel justified in killing doctors who perform abortions?

I hope ordinary Christians would be featured: good-hearted fundamentalists and progressives, the Free-Will Baptists and the Unitarians.