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Sunday 22 March 2015

Handicapped show film bravery


Movie fans will know all about Boyhood, the Oscar- nominated US film that was shot over many years of the actors' lives, so the characters aged naturally in line with the story.


Another coming-of-age film is under production a bit closer to home for us. Called Eat Bitter, Taste Sweet, it has been two years in the making and with any luck it will be finished in around a year.


It is not a work of fiction but a documentary about three physically disabled young people in the mainland going through school and preparing to enter the world of employment and adulthood.


It is produced by Marie-Anne Follett and directed by John Calvin Fong, Americans who taught at the Guangzhou English Language Training Center for the Handicapped, where much of the documentary takes place.


In order to respect the subjects' need to get on with their studies, there hasn't been much publicity for the film so far. But having been allowed to see some clips, I can say this is going to be a powerful and moving documentary.


The young subjects are brave, ambitious and optimistic, but China is not always a welcoming or easy place for the handicapped. Hopefully, the scenes yet to be filmed will show the three doing well.



You can find out more about the project at 

http:/ /www.sffs.org/filmmaker360/documentary-grants-and- programs/project-development-and-fiscal-sponsorship/ eat-bitter-taste-sweet. 

You can also help FUNDthe film by making a donation at that site.



Bernard Charnwut Chan is chairman of the Advisory Committee on Revitalisation of Historic Buildings.


Source: The Standard,18th March 2015 




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