Film Project to Clarify the Truth

[PureInsight.org] Since the persecution started in 1999, the evil head Jiang Zemin has continuously used the Chinese media to disseminate lies and news articles that slander Falun Gong, such as the self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square. There has been many Chinese people overseas who have been influenced and poisoned by the propaganda and now hold very negative opinions about Dafa. Dafa disciples started to seek different channels and means to reach out to sentient beings and to better clarify the truth to them.

In 2001, a few western and Chinese practitioners started to play truth clarification pieces at one of the frontlines in America: Chinatown. According to a Chinese practitioner, in the beginning, the project only used TV to show the "faked self-immolation" at high traffic spots on Canal Street and in Confucius Plaza. The passersby, usually around 10-30 people, would pause and take a look and as soon as they found out what it was all about, they would turn their heads and leave.

In March of 2001, I had the opportunity to travel to Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where I spoke in front of an audience about my trip to China in February of 2002. I was among the second group of Western practitioners who traveled to China. Later that night, I noticed that local practitioners had set up a large projection screen and were showing truth pieces on it to the large crowd in the surrounding area. Watching the piece, I felt the magnificence of its power in clarifying the truth and then thought what a powerful effect it would have in Chinatown if we could do the same.

The next week, I went to work and told my experience to a fellow employee, who is also a veteran practitioner. He reiterated that it would be a great idea to have a film show in Chinatown to clarify the truth to the Chinese people! Thinking of places to have the show, we came up with the high trafficked Confucius Plaza, a place where practitioners had been clarifying the truth, handing out flyers and doing the exercises for quite some time.

We took it upon ourselves to obtain the necessary permits to host the film show. At first, it was not easy and took a few weeks, but with persistent effort, we did it. With the permits in hand, we contacted more practitioners and told them about our plans. They were delighted and everyone came to join us. It was truly amazing seeing it all come together, but for sure it was Master's plan all along!

That same weekend, and with the cooperation of many fellow practitioners, we hosted our first film show at Confucius Plaza. Being witness to it all, I can say, it was everything I had imagined and then beyond that! The large projection screen showed the truth pieces to all those passing by throughout the entire area of Confucius Plaza. It could even be seen from three city blocks away! Not to mention the sound, which was being projected from a professional PA speaker system we had installed on the DVD player. So, all the people in the area within proximity could not only see the truth pieces, but could clearly hear them as well.

One by one, Chinese people came by to see what we were showing. At first a handful, then ten, then twenty, soon there were so many Chinese people there that we could barely count them! The entire corner of the plaza was full of Chinese people all watching intently! The emotion on the audience's faces ranged from curiosity to sadness, and fascination to understanding. I remember standing behind the screen that night and a fellow practitioner smiled and said to me, "This is so magnificent!" I had to hold back tears. Seeing all the audience watching the truth pieces, and how practitioners came together as one body, and most of all, how Master had arranged for us to carry out this magnificent event. It was truly awesome.

One day, we heard that practitioners in Canada had been clarifying the truth by playing regular movies with truth clarification pieces inserted in the middle and that they had a great impact in the Chinese community. We decided to adopt the same method by inserting the Truth Clarification pieces in more entertaining materials such as a TV series or movies to attract bigger crowds.

We first picked Journey to the West and Ji-gong. These series appealed to both men and women and to the elders and children. Stories about Buddhist cultivation also help gradually make more of our audience believe that there are gods.

After a few weeks, the number of our audience started to grow. However, deeply poisoned by Jiang's propaganda, many viewers would leave during the intermission when we played the truth pieces. Some individuals, bribed by the Chinese consulate, would deliberately create troubles such as whistling, yelling, and badmouthing Falun Gong during the show. Several practitioners were verbally threatened in the beginning while setting up the equipment for the movies. Some practitioners were told that they would beat us up if we continued to show movies in the park and some said they would throw stones at us. During that period, police officers would either participate in the show or cruise around the areas a couple of times. There were often 10 to 20 practitioners sending forth righteous thoughts to rectify the field. All these efforts were put into place to assure that the show could proceed without much disturbance.

It has been three years since then. In these three years, we have improved our shows in many ways to attract more people and to better clarify the truth. In order to understand our audience better, we designed surveys to probe their interests in film genres, to ask for suggestions and comments, and to better understand the best medium or channel to reach them. We advertised on Epochtimes, put up posters in restaurants and shops around our venues, and handed out flyers at high traffic spots. As to the selection of the movies, we tried to show popular and meaningful movies such as "To Live" and "Quijui." These movies tell stories about the daily life of ordinary people in China. They not only attract crowds but expose the secrets and techniques of persecution used by the Chinese government.

During these three years, we moved from the park in summer to the school stadium in winter, from word-of-mouth to advertising on the newspaper, from projector screen to movie screen (made by practitioners), from 20 practitioners sending forth righteous thoughts to now 6-7 practitioners running the whole show (including setting up equipments, ushering, giving out materials, handing out flyers). The number of the audience also mounted from 10-20 people to a few hundred.

As the pace of Fa clarification continues to advance, more evil beings are eliminated and more sentient beings are awakening. The biggest change we have observed is our audience's perception about Falun Gong and their attitudes towards practitioners. When the film show just started, it encountered some interference, where villains threatened to throw stones at practitioners if we did not stop playing the film. After showing the films for two years, incidents like this seldom happen. Last year, we tried to expand our program from one evening a week to two evenings but failed to obtain another permit from the local officials to use the park. When we explained the rejected attempt to the audience, many of them volunteered to participate in a signature drive to support our activity. From the angry riots to supportive crowds, we have come a long way.

Many of our audience expressed their gratitude to us either in person or through answering the survey. According to a Chinese practitioner, he was once approached by a member of the audience who said with tears in his eyes, "It's enough. This persecution should stop. Good people like you should not be persecuted." There are also more members of the audience requesting information about Falun Dafa and taking the truth clarification articles from our booth. Once one person from the audience was about to throw away a truth clarification article, but he was stopped by another member of the audience with "Don't throw it away. These materials were all printed with their (practitioners') own money. After seeing so many films, do you know the five exercises?" Many times after the movie, our audience would come to us with questions like " Is Falun Dafa really this good?" "Can I borrow Zhuan Falun to read?" "Where is your practice site? Can I borrow the tape that explains the exercises?" Many times, the elderly ladies took our hands and said, "Thank you so much for playing the movies for us." These are all sentient beings with predestined connection with Dafa. They are grateful after knowing the real truth.

One of the most unforgettable experiences for us happened in August last year, during the blackout of the New England area. Due to the blackout, Chinatown lost electricity for the entire 29 hours. In spite of many difficulties, we decided to not cancel our weekly Friday night film show in Chinatown's Roosevelt Park. It was very dark and extremely difficult to set up the equipment. One difficulty was deciding where to set up the screen. We had about 800 Chinese sitting in the dark waiting for the show to start. What else could they do without lights and electricity in their apartments? We finally found a spot where everybody could see. Looking at the huge crowd that was about to learn the truth about the persecution, I was deeply moved but also concerned about the safety of our equipment. Considering the darkness it would have been difficult to react to any unforeseen problems. We were also short of practitioners, since the subway was not running and many could not get to the location.

At 8.30 we could finally start showing Journey to the West which is a very popular and very amusing Chinese TV-series based on the cultivation story of the Monkey King, who is also briefly mentioned in Zhuan Falun. There was still no light, but a small gas generator powered our projector. I looked at all the faces and thought I rarely had seen Chinese laughing like this. Both the adults and children were enjoying themselves.

Around 9 o'clock, the power came back. Many people from the audience started to leave for home. We concluded the show and our short Falun Dafa films at around 10:30 with a smaller audience. One of the Westerners who organized the film shows, told me recently "I don't feel like it's us (practitioners) and them (the Chinese) any more. When I go to Chinatown I feel like I'm seeing my friends." I agreed and felt very fortunate that we were in Chinatown with hundreds of our friends during this historical blackout.

Because of our righteous thoughts and actions in the last three years, the local police force, schools, and officials are gradually understanding the mighty virtue of Dafa. There is less and less interference occurring as the police officers have been very supportive in keeping the order around the shows and local officials issue permits without too many difficulties. Even when encountering interference, our righteous thoughts and our compassion to save sentient beings always help us to overcome it.

It is amazing to see the changes in myself, my fellow practitioners, and the Chinese people we have saved. When we began to go to Chinatown regularly, things felt quite tense between Western and Chinese practitioners. There was almost no sharing and Westerners and Chinese each participated in the same activities but rarely communicated with each other. Often when Westerners shared, the Chinese practitioners were excluded, even though they were also in the room. And often the Westerners were excluded when the Chinese shared.

This situation is slowly changing and we already had a few occasions where both Westerners and Chinese openly shared their understanding. Now our hearts are becoming bigger and calmer through Fa study and we are elevating in our compassion. Slowly we begin feeling more comfortable with each other. It does not appear that people just want to get their own point across, defend themselves after making a mistake, or are selfishly attached to their own point or ideas without listening to others. Instead of just a few people getting into the conversation, now more people are involved and able to share their understanding while others patiently listen.

All this is closely related to Fa study. A practitioner from Sweden told me he reads two chapters of Zhuan Falun a day. He said, "When we don't read enough our hearts are very small and our minds are going very fast. But if we study the Fa more our minds slow down and our hearts becomes very big, so we can save many more people." I was moved by what he said and thought we have often taken care of activities in Chinatown with our head, and debated endlessly about minor details. If we instead open our hearts, study the Fa well, and loosened our attachment to self we can touch people on a deeper level and save more people.

With the movie show we selflessly provide something to the Chinese community and also make their life more enjoyable. This community activity has brought us many Chinese friends. They all know we are Falun Dafa practitioners and we are well known and well liked in that area. I hope more practitioners will soon be able to follow this example and go to Chinatown. Our experiences have made us not feel like a stranger around these precious Chinese people or even uncomfortable because they may not like us and Falun Dafa. We need to become a strong and appreciated part of the Chinese community and bring the boundless goodness of Falun Dafa to the hearts of the Chinese people.