The Borneo Post

Director Vivian Qu hopes new film will spur sex education in China

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VENICE: Chinese director Vivian Qu hopes her new film Angels Wear White will generate a discussion on sex education and child protection in China.

Speaking during the Venice Film Festival, she said sex education at an early age was important because children needed to learn how to protect themselves as their parents were not necessaril­y always around.

Angels Wear White is set in a seafront town, where two young girls are assaulted in a motel by a middle-aged man.

The only witness is receptioni­st Mia, who is only a few years older than the girls.

As news of the assault spread, the management tries to cover up the evidence.

Mia, worried she may lose her job, says nothing. Meanwhile, Wen, one of the victims, finds her troubles have just begun. In a world that offers them no safety, they have to find their own way out of the dilemma.

Qu said she drew inspiratio­n from real life. It pained her to think that justice was often not served or came too late.

Making a movie on such a sensitive topic with a young, nonprofess­ional actress presented challenges.

Qu spent two months training her young star Zhou Meijun on weekends when the girl was out of school.

Zhou was not aware of the entire plot.

“She didn’t understand, she was very young and very pure. So, we only gave her scene by scene,” Qu said.

“We focused more on her relationsh­ip with her parents because that’s also how the film was and because those are the things that she could understand,” she added.

Qu is the only female director in the festival’s main competitio­n this year and, while acknowledg­ing the difficulti­es female filmmakers face, Qu said she believed it was more important to encourage women into the industry rather than opt for quotas.

“Any serious film makers would not want to be selected only because she is female, we want to be selected as good film makers, we make equally good films,” she said.

 ??  ?? Director Vivian Qu (right) poses with actress Zhou Meijun during the photocall for the movie ‘Angels Wear White’ in Venice. — Reuters photo
Director Vivian Qu (right) poses with actress Zhou Meijun during the photocall for the movie ‘Angels Wear White’ in Venice. — Reuters photo

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