Smeared Type

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.

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.

Of the many movies that I saw at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, two docu/dramas stand out.  These are listed under the True Stories section of the Film Festival.  Both of them were Holocaust stories, but with completely different angles.

“Inside Hana’s Suitcase” tells the poignant story of two young children who grew up in pre- WWII Czechoslovakia and the terrible events that led to Hana’s death in Auschwitz.  In addition to tracing the lives of Hana Brady and her brother George who is the main narrator of the movie, (a beautiful performance from an 80-year-old man who now lives in Toronto Canada), the film covers the lives of their family during the 1930’s and 1940’s.  George is the only survivor. 

However the film also tells the present-day story of the “The Small Wings” a group of Japanese youngsters, and how their passionate and tenacious teacher, Fumiko Ishioka, helped them solve the mystery of Hana Brady, whose name was painted on an old battered suitcase that they received from Auschwitz – the notorious Nazi death camp.  The voices of children from Japan, Canada, and the Czech Republic contributed to the telling of Hana’s story. 

I thought the film was beautifully directed, narrated and dramatized and will undoubtedly garner numerous awards around the world.

A similar true story but one that has been made into a narrative film is “Broken Promise” which covers the young life of Martin Friedmann, a Jewish Slavic boy, who in 1939 is more concerned with refining his considerable soccer abilities than the fact that Czechoslovakia has become an ally of Nazi Germany.  His father, a poultry merchant, senses the problems to come and asks his nine children to swear that they will meet every year at Passover – whatever happens.  It is not a promise that the family members were able to keep.  Martin’s soccer skills and a considerable amount of luck, allow him to survive the concentration camp at Terizin and the transportation to Auschwitz that befell so many prisoners (including George and Hana Brady).  Amazingly, he gets transferred to a TB clinic, from which he talks his way into working in a Monastery; and, as the Russian armies advance in 1945, he joins a group of Soviet-led partisans, and despite some hair-raising events, survives the war.  Only one brother survives from his total family. 

Martin Friedmann was at the screening and spoke to the audience after the showing of this movie.  He is now an 85-year-old upright strong looking man, who became a civil engineer after the war and left Czechoslovakia when the Communists took control in1949 when he moved to Israel, to meet up with his sole surviving brother. 

An amazing story, which is beautifully done, and which may be on a short list for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com

I’ve just attended Palm Spring International Film Festival.  It is the now the largest Film Festival in the US, attracting more than 130,000 moviegoers who were able to enjoy this year, 190 films from 70 countries.  The films vary from US independent productions to foreign films, showcasing a variety of cultures, seeking awards and distribution in the US market. 

The Festival also highlighted films from Australia, and also broadly covers four different sectors of cinema excellence under the titles of New Voices/New Visions, World Cinema Now, Best Foreign Language Films and True Stories, which encompasses thirty unforgettable documentaries.  Of course, I was only able to see a fraction of the 190 films on offer, but these included some intriguing stories that provided me with some unique experiences.

The “White Ribbon” is a fascinating movie shot in black and white, in German with English subtitles.  This movie won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’or.  It is a disturbing mystery that follows the escalating hateful behavior of a group of adults and children in a rural German village in the years before the First World War.  They live in a society of strict discipline, parental fear, and religious intolerance.  Their village was part of an agriculture community isolated from the militant mechanism that was sweeping the country at that time, and cleverly illustrates human behavior and particularly German behavior.  There were multiple threads of vengeful and just plain malicious deeds in this meticulous period piece, which draws the audience into an increasingly terrifying world. 

The Director has reminded us that the German adults of the Nazi era between 1933 and 1945 were children in the years prior to World War I, and perhaps one can see in this story the precursor to the brutal behavior and genocide of the World War II.

Another movie that I found to be as unique but completely different was a film from Kazakhstan called “Kelin.”  This movie was a remarkable visionary tale of love and desire set in the remote Altai mountains in the Second Century AD.   The film is completely without dialogue, but not without sound and a beautiful music score.  The exquisite photographic beauty of the winter scenes, birch forests, and the snow-clad hills is breathtaking. 

The story starts with two fur-clad hunter herders, bargaining with a father for the rights to his beautiful daughter.  Although the girl prefers the more handsome of the two men, she winds up with the one who pays the most.  “Kelin” (the name of the girl) accompanies her groom to his distant yurt, which he shares with his mother and teenage brother.  She soon adjusts to a life of hard work and sexually pleasing her husband, but one day the losing suitor shows up and kills his rival, and she prefers to follow her heart disgracing her mother-in-law and her husband’s younger brother with dire consequences.

Even though there was no dialogue, the story was clear, the acting was exquisite, and the scenery breathtaking.  There was screaming, singing, chanting and laughter in the film, and that together with the incredible music score made this movie an enchanting experience.

Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com