Bo Hanxiong’s film explores the struggles of Yan, a man with gender identity issues whose family raised him as female because of China’s one-child policy
Rather than focusing only on the negative aspects of the situation, Bo also wanted to send a positive message about the importance of family
Kylie Knott Published: 12 Jun, 2020
Wang Junxiong plays the lead role of Yan in the short film Drifting, which focuses on the effects of China’s one-child policy. He was cast after being spotted on a subway in Beijing.
Beijing born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Bo Hanxiong has ventured into sensitive territory with his new short film, Drifting.hot in Beijing, it focuses on Yan, a second child born illegally during the time of China’s one-child policy, a programme introduced in 1979 to curb the country’s explosive population growth. Parents who obeyed it were rewarded financially and with jobs; those who disobeyed faced harsh penalties – fines, forced contraception, abortion, and sterilisation.
With this in mind, Yan’s parents send their daughter into hiding in the countryside and keep Yan at their home in the city, disguising him as his sister by dressing him in girl’s clothing.
As a teenager, and with his true identity revealed, Yan struggles with his gender identity and must battle not just his own demons but intolerance and bullying from his parents and peers, all while bearing the burden of being an only son and under pressure to pass on the family name.
China abolished the one-child policy in 2015, but Bo wanted to use film to make sure the policy, and the damage it caused families, was not forgotten. “Growing up in Beijing, I didn’t understand the [one-child] policy, as we were so young,” Bo says. “My classmates and friends were all only children, so we just thought it was normal.”
Drifting is inspired by true events; when Bo heard about a child being raised in a different gender he knew he wanted to make it the focus of a film. He drew inspiration from the 2018 documentary China’s Forgotten Daughters, which follows one woman’s search for her birth family. Under the one-child policy, many newborn girls were abandoned, adopted or sold because China’s society is patriarchal and favours sons.
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As well as highlighting the extreme lengths to which some families went to cover up a second child, Bo also wanted to convey a positive message about love and family
“With this film, I hope people can better understand their parents, or their children, and have a better idea about what each other has been through,” he says. “I want to help different generations better understand and accept each other.”
Bo says some scenes reflect his personal experiences. “The fight scene on the bridge happened to me but in my case, it was in a fight on a basketball court [in Beijing] when some kids circled me and tried to bully me. My parents came over, broke up the circle and saved me … that incident really moved me.
“In China, we don’t verbalise our love, we don’t say ‘I love you’ in daily life. But if a situation calls for it, family will stand up and make sacrifices, it just needs certain circumstances for that love to be revealed.”
As well as highlighting the lengths some families went to cover up a second child during the one-child policy era, director Bo Hanxiong also wanted to convey a positive message about love and family.
Drifting explores one man’s struggle with his gender identity after being raised as a girl during the one-child policy era.
When auditions failed to find a lead actor, Bo’s casting eye turned to the streets of Beijing. “I wanted someone real and authentic to portray the main character, so I looked on the streets, on buses and in bars,” says Bo. He discovered non-actor Wang Junxiong, who plays Yan, in the Beijing subway, used daily by more than 13.7 million people.
“It was great that he was so willing to work with me,” Bo says.
The parents are played by professional actors. “Han Sanming, who plays the father, has been in a few Jia Zhangke films, including his famous Still Life . Wang Jiali, who plays the mum, is active in TV shows and commercials.”
Bo, who is working on his first feature film, which explores interracial love, says his passion for film started at a young age. “Watching DVDs after school allowed me to switch off my brain,” says Bo. “It gave me enjoyment, and when I was watching films I would picture in my head the story that I wanted to tell.”
Bo is working on his first feature film, which explores interracial love.
Drifting was selected for the San Sebastian Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival and FilmFest Dresden International Short Film Festival; because of the coronavirus pandemic, these events will now be held in September.
His film will be screened as part of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival on June 22. For more details visit: Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: One-child policy in focus: born a boy, raised a girl, expected to be a man
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