Document Mothers

Mothers
Dir. Huijing Xu, China 2013, 68m, Scottish Premiere

In the Chinese village of Ma, almost all women of child-bearing age are either sterilised or made to wear a birth control ring after having their first child. The one-child policy put into place 30 years ago has resulted in repercussions including legal penalties for extra children and what can only be described as "birth control policing".

Xu Huijing returns to his village to tailgate the government officials whose current job is playing cat-and-mouse with one woman who refuses to go through the sterilisation surgery. As Rong Rong is forced into hiding, we get a glimpse of the bureaucracy and statistics that strip away a woman’s right to bear children.

Special Mention, Doc Fest Sheffield. Special Mention, Chicago International Film Festival.