Updates on Film Project
3 1/2 stars, "a powerful and touching film" Roger Ebert
"My top 5 at PSIFF.... A must see." Norman Mark
"Family tale both personal, universal" Chicago Tribune
Mulberry Child at Film Festivals and Theatrical Screenings:
The Quad Cinema, 34 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011, 3:15 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. daily, Sept. 7-13, 2012
Madrid International Film Festival (June, 2012), Best Editing of a Feature Documentary
Newport Beach Film Festival (April - May, 2012)
Nashville Film Festival (April, 2012), Winner of Script Writing
Charleston International Film Festival (April, 2012)
Sedona Film Festival (Feb., 2012), sold out screenings
"Stranger than Fiction Documentary Showcase" at Gene Siskel Film Center, sold out screenings.
Palm Springs International Film Festivals (Jan. 2012). Sold out screenings. Winner: "Best of the Fest"
Heartland Film Festival (Oct. 2011): World premiere. Sold out screening.
MULBERRY CHILD
Directed by Susan Morgan Cooper, USA, 85 min.
Narrated by Jacqueline Bisset
This many-layered documentary saga begins in Chicago with a disconnect between Chinese-born Jian Ping and her thoroughly American daughter Lisa Xia, and journeys into the heart of China for a personal history of one family’s trauma and eventual triumph over Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Through colorful reenactments, historical records, and moving interviews, director Morgan Cooper (AN UNLIKELY WEAPON) follows the trail of Mulberry Child, Jian’s powerful memoir of growing up amid the hardship and injustice of the Cultural Revolution, and traces daughter Lisa’s gradual understanding of family love.
The shooting of all the re-enacted scenes was done in Los Angeles. A mud house, which is similar to the place where Jian's family lived during the Cultural Revolution, was built in the back yard of Director Cooper's home in the middle of Hollywood!
Film Production Team for Mulberry Child:
Director: Susan Morgan Cooper
Susan Morgan Cooper has more than 25 years experience in the Film Industry and has among her credits, Producer and Director of the documentary Shadows in the Sun, for the Walt Disney Company. Her recent documentaries include One Girl’s Journey, Sergio, Heroes and Sheroes, and most recently as the Producer and Director of An Unlikely Weapon: the Eddie Adams Story, for which she won a number of awards in 2009, including an HBO Award.
Editor: Sean Valla
Sean Valla has worked as an editor on feature films for the past 20 years on projects ranging from big-budget Studio productions such as the “Spiderman series” to the small-budget independents, e.g. the 2010 Oscar winner “The Hurt Locker.”
Composer: Kyle Eastwood
Golden Globe nominee Kyle Eastwood has worked as a music arranger, composer since 1991. His original scores have been showcased in “Invictus,” “Gran Torino,” “An Unlikely Weapon,” “Rails & Ties,” the Oscar nominated “Letters from Iwo Jima,” and Oscar winner “Million Dollar Baby.”
Sound Editor: Mark Stoeckinger
Oscar and BAFTA nominee Mark Stoeckinger has been a much sought after sound editor and sound effects supervisor over the past 25 years. His sound effects editing talents enhanced every project Mark has worked on, as evidenced in “Star Trek,” “Mission Impossible II & III,” “An Unlikely Weapon,” “The Last Samurai,” and “The Gladiator.”
Cinematographer: Quyen Tran
Queyn Tran was nominated for a World Press Photo Award for her photographs of the attacks on the World Trade Center, which appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. Her recent film work includes “20 Floors under the Sea” and “Echo Stop.”
Susan Morgan Cooper's most recent documentary film is titled An Unlikely Weapon--the Eddie Adams Story, which has won many awards.
Select photos from filming in China:
Three generations gathering together in Changchun, China
Re-enacted scene of Nainai, Father, and Jian Ping
Lisa at Great Wall
Susan with wait staff at a restuarant in Changchun
Jian's mother, at 83
The Cultural Revolution Museum in Shantou, China
