By Nicholas Zifcak
The premiere of Shake the World was held October 13, 2006 at American University in Washington, D.C. This was the Shen Zhou Film Studio’s first release of a feature length film. The premiere also kicked off a university campus screening tour.
Shake the World tells the true story of the beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners after July 1999, through the eyes of hair stylist Ding Yan. As a female practitioner, Yan demonstrates the kindness and unbelievable courage that Falun Gong practitioners exhibited while enduring the brutal persecution of the Chinese Communist regime.
TRAGEDY: Friends of Ding Yan, young Zhen-Zhen and her mother weep after Zhen-Zhen’s father and Ding Yan are persecuted to death. (Shen Zhou Film Studio)
Determined to let the world know of their persecution, Falun Gong practitioners hold a secret press conference in Beijing in October. While the press conference leads to news reports that shock the international community, it also infuriates the Communist leadership. Subsequently, the participants at the news conference are marked for persecution. Ding Yan is eventually persecuted to death at the hands of the police, after suffering physical and mental torture.
According to the feedback from local organizers, the film struck a chord with the audiences and aroused a great response. Some viewers cried; one viewer even quit the Chinese Communist party on the spot. The screening of the film attracted Asians as well as non-Asians, students, community members, as well as local media.
“This is a very powerful story, very shocking. I was completely moved, and I join you in support. This is a disturbing story and yet it is beautiful. For me, it was as if I had become the main female character and endured that ruthless suppression,” said a film instructor.
A University of Toronto viewer, Mr. Lin from Beijing, offered: “The musical score is wonderful. It stayed with me for a long time… The sincerity of the child’s words lingered in my ear—’I like to practice Falun Gong, I like to go to school, but because I practice I can’t go to school.’ I could not help but feel deep sympathy for the child. At the same time I was indignant about the Chinese Communist regime’s persecution of those who practice Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.”
One expressed that the film moved her deeply. “Before watching the film I didn’t really understand Falun Gong and what is happening in China. I had only heard that Chinese Communist regime persecutes Falun Gong, but after watching this film I felt Falun Gong practitioners are so kind, and they have met with such injustice. The persecution of Falun Gong is so cruel and unreasonable. The film deepened my understanding of practitioner’s situation and struggle,” said a film student.
A student of international relations from Washington, D.C. said: “Actually this is the first time I have understood this matter so well. I will start to pay more attention to the persecution of Falun Gong in the future, I am very grateful.”
Since the October screening at American University, the film has been shown at Yale University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, California State University at Fullerton, Toronto University, Montreal’s Concordia University, Waterloo University, Ottawa University, Calgary University, National Taiwan University, National Central University in Taiwan, Busan Bu-Kyung University in Korea, and Germany’s University of Dortmund as well as some others. Some university audiences requested multiple showings.
The film tour will continue to travel to more universities around the world and is right now being translated into other languages.
According to its website, “Shen Zhou Film Studio’s mission is to observe our society from different perspectives and reflect daily life from a deeper level.”
To celebrate the opening of the new Shen Zhou Film Studio and its first film Shake the World, a free download of the complete film is offered at www.shenzhoufilm.com
http://www.shenzhoufilm.com/sz/en/2006/09/27/a330.html 2006-9-27 20:52