''Children of the Stars'' is a 2007 documentary about children with
autism () in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It was produced by
Alexander Haase and directed by
Rob Aspey. The title is an English translation of the expression (), a phrase used in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
to describe autistic children.
[Beijing Stars and Rain (2007). ]
About Us
''. Accessed 9 September 2010.
The documentary focuses on the Beijing Stars and Rain Teaching Institute (北京星星雨教育研究所), founded in 1993 by Tian Huiping. In 1992 Tian traveled from
Chongqing,
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
to
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
—a distance of 1460 km, or 907 miles—looking for help for her own autistic son but found nothing.
[Jocelyn, Ed & Wu, Runmei. (2009)]
To Catch a Falling Star
. China Business World. Interview with Tian Huiping. Accessed 9 September 2010. She returned a year later to start the school. Funded solely through charitable donations, the Beijing Stars and Rain School was the first
non-governmental educational organization in China dedicated to serving children with autism.
[Field, Brian (2010)]
Chinese organization offers hope to families struggling with autism
Autism Support Network. Accessed 9 September 2010. It offers an 11-week educational program for families, based on
applied behavior analysis
Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also called behavioral engineering, is a psychological intervention that applies empirical approaches based upon the principles of respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior of social significanc ...
.
The documentary follows the progress of five-year-old Feng Jia Wei and his father and mother, Feng Lei and Hao Yue Chun, who traveled across China to enroll their son in the school. The parents faced hardship in their community—a complete lack of schools or facilities to deal with autistic children, no network of governmental aid or funds, ostracism from neighbors, and loss of their jobs.
[ The Film:Long Synopsis](_blank)
Official website of "Children of the Stars". Accessed 9 September 2010. Before coming to this school they had considered committing suicide as a family
—much as Tian Huiping, the school's founder, had years before.
Public health services for autistic children in China are almost nonexistent, as Tian Huiping explains:
Parents of autistic children can't expect any help from society. It's not just a question of financial help; they cannot get specialized help either... More han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
98 percent of autistic children have to stay at home because they are rejected by kindergartens even if they are very high-functional – autistic children have very poor social skills. Attending school is a dream.
At the time of their arrival, Jia Wei is violent and uncooperative. He cannot speak, and shows little recognition of his parents, whom he frequently bites and hits:
Families had been waiting for 2 years to attend and often arrived in a state of despair. They could not communicate with their children or understand the symptoms of autism at all. They were looking for a cure and thought that this school was where miracles happened.[Asprey, Rob. (2009)]
Director's statement
. Website of the Sprout Film Festival. Accessed 9 September 2010.
The program requires weeks of tireless work. As producer Alender Haase describes the early days watching Jia Wei's family struggle: "Sometimes I said to myself: 'Well, that's enough; I can't stand it anymore'. We wanted to drop the camera and leave. The parents seemed to be on the edge of mental collapse. But the strong power of love and patience pulled them back, and so it did to us."
[Qi, Lin. (2007).]
Helping small stars shine
Accessed 9 September 2010. In time, Jia Wei's family begins to see a number of break-through experiences, and their first opportunity to live in a nurturing setting offers them hope. However, they are apprehensive about returning to their unfriendly home town, and fear that Jia Wei's obvious progress will not be enough to let him enter a public school.
''Children of the Stars'' is described as a "riveting documentary" on ''
Library Journals website:
eng Jia Wei'sparents candidly share their difficulty in a society that doesn't understand autism. Their desperation is evident as they coax and cajole Jia Wei through school activities intended to help him to communicate. Then we witness the moment when Jia Wei calls out "daddy" for the first time. These connections with the parents make this heartwarming movie wonderful to watch."[Library Journal. (2009, April 15)]
Video
(Reviews). Accessed 9 September 2010.
Awards
;2008
:* "Chris Award" at the
Columbus International Film Festival in Columbus, Ohio, USA
:* "Documentaries up to 60 minutes" award in the New Delhi We Care International Documentary Festival, New Delhi, India.
;2010
:*"Excellence Award" at the 2010
Superfest International Disability Film Festival in Berkeley, CA.
Notes
External links
''Children of the Stars'' official website of film
**
*
Stars and Rain Schoolat autismchina.org
* . (Video) AFP Global News
* Johnson, Ian (2008)
In China, Grass-Roots Groups Stretch Limits on Activism ''Wall Street Journal''.
Chinese organization offers hope to families struggling with autism
{{Autism resources
2007 films
Chinese-language films
Chinese documentary films
2007 documentary films
Documentary films about autism
Documentary films about children with disability