It was supposed to be a simple community project: Beijing's Tiantongyuan neighborhood was going to shoot a DV short at the end of July, using talent from within the community itself.

 

The film, How can I rescue you, my daughter? as originally written, told the story of a mother who saves her daughter from kidnappers using her kickboxing skills, ultimately joining forces with the police to arrest the hooligans. Director Song Jianjun, a graduate of the Communication University of China, said that he wanted to make the film to highlight various societal problems present in Tiantongyuan.

 

The subject matter didn't sit well with some members of the community and related oversight organizations, so on casting day, Song announced that he was halting production. He considered reworking the script to eliminate the objectionable material, possibly rewriting the central conflict into a financial scam rather than a kidnapping, and the mother's kickboxing into more gentle efforts to educate her daughter about the dangers of the Internet.

 

In the meantime, the project continued to attract media attention, and interest from potential sponsors. In mid-August, it was back on track with the original storyline, which the rest of the cast and crew had convinced Song to keep.

 

When filming resumed, however, it was no longer a small DV project; the community had rented a professional camera and tracking equipment, a local media company donated the time of two crew members to help with filming. The 30-minute film has an estimated budget of RMB 3,000 and will probably screen in early September on the community's website.

 

(That's Beijing September 7, 2006)