They
are not “Reborn” in a physical or spiritual sense. This is strictly a
bureaucratic designation for the “substitute” children born to parents who lost
their first and legally only child in the horrific Sichuan Earthquake. They are
already a sizeable and growing demographic. U.S. based Beichuan native Zijian
Mu follows the lasting repercussions of the Sichuan quake for one set of parents
fortunate enough to have a Reborn child and one anguished mother who does not
in The Reborn of Beichuan, which
screens in New York during the 2014 Take Two Film Festival.
The
exact death toll remains unknown because of government censorship, but the province’s
children died in disproportionally high numbers due to shoddy graft-laden
school construction (as muckraking artist Ai Weiwei and others have documented).
Many surviving parents have tried to plug the holes in their hearts with an
allowable “Reborn” child. Jiang Hongyou and Fu Guangjun were duly blessed with
a little girl whom they understandably dote upon. She is now old enough to
recognize photos of her big brother, but they are waiting until she is a few
years older to explain his heartbreaking fate. It is the kind of tricky
parenting question luckier parents of New Beichuan will grapple with more and
more. In contrast, they have no problem grilling nonplussed kindergarten
officials with safety questions. Well, they had better get used to it.
Yang
Jianfen would dearly wish to be a similar position. Still grieving her teen-aged
daughter, but no longer able to conceive, she yearns to adopt. However, her increasingly
cold and passive aggressive husband Fang Yanggui will not cooperate with her
efforts, particularly when it comes to the requisite fees. (Old Fang probably
did not expect to get called out for being a jerkweed in outlets around the
world, but that is what he gets). Still, his concerns about money are not
completely unwarranted. After all, the Communist government only loaned the
8,000 Yuan down-payments for displaced residents’ replacement flats in shiny
New Beichuan. So much for: “to each according to their needs.”
Sadly,
Mu’s family was also touched by the Sichuan tragedy, so he well understands the
raw emotions at play. His treatment of surviving parents is unflaggingly
sensitive, but still acutely penetrating. Culled from a larger documentary
project (with the help of co-editor David Barreda), Reborn serves as a teaser and a bite sized introduction to the
issues it addresses and has been released to the world for web and festival
viewing (it can be seen here via the Asia Society).
