'My Girlhood' screened to deaf mute children

Volunteers from sign language group with Amway Charity Foundation interpret inspirational film "My Girlhood" with sign language to a group of audience including 30 deaf mute children from Beijing's Shaliwen Rehabilitation Center Monday afternoon, April 25, 2011. [Photo/CRIENGLISH/handout]

Director Feng Zhenzhi's inspirational film "My Girlhood," a self-improvement story of a disabled girl, was screened to a special group who are unable to speak and hear Monday afternoon, Apr 25, in the New Century Theater in Beijing.

The movie is based on the "Chinese Helen Keller," Zhang Haidi's biography, "Dream in the Wheelchair." It is about a disabled young girl who becomes a teacher and learns acupuncture to help treat villagers in a rural area.

Thirty deaf mute children from Beijing's Shaliwen Rehabilitation Center watched the film in the company of their teachers and parents.

Five volunteers from a sign language group of the Amway Charity Foundation, which assists volunteer services of the inaugural Beijing International Film Festival, translated the 90-minute-long film into sign language on site for the children to understand.

Lv Jiaheng, the team leader, told the reporter he and his fellow workers slept only a couple of hours to get the tough job done in time, while all of their efforts paid off when smiles blossomed, or eyebrows wrinkled on the innocent faces of the kids while watching the film.

Young, disabled Wang Liang was a volunteer on the acting team, for who preparation means double the work. It was touching to see a disabled man play a disabled character. However Wang took great pleasure in doing this; he spoke in sign language that he wanted to pass on the message of being loving and strong.

Wei Zhiwei, an eight-year-old boy with a hearing problem was moved to tears, which thrilled his mother who used to think her boy was too young to understand plots. This also marks his first experience with this kind of movie on self-improvement.

Teenager Zheng Wei plays a disabled boy in the film. He said the uncomfortable moments of disability in speaking still stays with him, and he also called for more love and concern from others to the deaf-mute children.

The special care given to the special group during the ongoing Beijing International Film Festival was highly acclaimed by people, which has aroused more public attention to the disabled world around us.