Cheaper by the three dozen

Chen Tianwen and wife Guo Gairan together with some of their 35 total adopted children. Photo: Courtesy of Su Jiaming
While most college students were back home enjoying Spring Festival with their families, Su Jiaming and Cheng Haifeng set off to a small village in Shanxi Province to shoot a documentary about a unique elderly couple and their 35 adopted children.

"I've been into making documentaries since I went to college. Every weekend, I'd carry my video camera and wander around in the city, looking for interesting stories to record," Su, a television journalism major at Zhejiang University, said.
Su's career is already off to a good start. Last year he won the top prize at the 2009 Southern Short Film Festival with The Iron Eater, a documentary about migrant workers who live off discarded metal.

"I have been always fascinated by the life of people who have lived at the bottom of society. When I saw the report about the couple in Shanxi who had been adopting kids since 1989 right after I won, I felt an overriding urge to know more about their life," Su said.

Winning support from families and teachers, Su told his idea to his old friend, Cheng Haifeng, a 24-year-old film and television director, and they dove into the new project.

Cheng first visited the couple alone last October, telling them about their plans and getting permission from them to make the film. Su and Cheng set off on February 3 during winter break but were unprepared for the destitution of Xizhuang, the small village in Shanxi where the couple lives.

The houses were made of packed earth and the couple, Cheng Tianwen and Guo Gairan, live with their eight adopted children in their three-room home. Another five children live with their oldest birth-son in another part of the village.

Su and Cheng filmed every aspect of the family's life for 15 days, working in rotation from 7 am to 11 pm.

"You never know what will happen next, so you have to always keep shooting," Su said.

"It took a couple of days for the family to get used to the camera constantly peering into their life, but eventually they just started acting normally."

During the shooting process, Su said he was very moved by the family's kindness and felt compassion for their sad lot in life. But the family didn't seem hopeless.

"When we asked why they adopted so many, the old couple just said the children were too bad off to neglect. The kids they adopted since 1989 were all abandoned by their parents mainly because they have some kind of disability," Su said.

"One of their kids, Xiaoke, has a leg disability. I remember watching her struggle to get onto a tricycle. It took about 10 minutes, but she finally got on," Su said. "I won't forget the eagerness in her eyes. She's just like any other kid – curiosity spurs on fascination in toys. But the disability has made her life much harder."

Most of what Su and Cheng recorded in those 15 days is trivial, but the images together paint a moving picture of a happy family and enduring optimism despite hardship. The couple, though in their 60s, still farm to support the whole family.

"They are definitely poor, but when we were chatting, they rarely complained," Su said.

Eating dumplings, the traditional New Year's dish, and watching the Spring Festival Gala together brought the family and the directors close.
The couple did their best to accommodate their guests, even giving Su a new haircut, a custom accompanying the Spring Festival to signify renewal.
"The conditions were rough. It was below zero every day and it was always snowing," Su said. "We couldn't even shower the whole time. But the family was really welcoming and gave us a lot of support."

On February 20, Su and Cheng wrapped up their shooting. The whole family saw them off at the bus station. As the bus rounded a corner and the village pulled out of sight, Su caught one last glimpse of the father out of the corner of his eye.

Source: Global Times(By Pan Yan)