Invisible lives: A legacy of China's family planning rules

Strict family planning measures were introduced in China in the late 70s and early 80s to slow population growth, including a “one-child policy”.

The latest national census in 2010 shows that China has 13 million unregistered people and most are children born outside the family planning rules.

In 2016, the family planning rules were relaxed and the one-child policy was dropped. However, it is still unclear what this means for children who were born before the changes.

This film tells three personal stories: Yang Zhizhu has a second child and campaigns against the family planning rules; Li Xue, 23, has spent her entire life unregistered because she is a second child; Liu Chunyan is a single mother with a daughter born outside marriage.

It is an intimate portrait of three people who have struggled with the restrictive rules.

  • Shanshan Chen
    Director
  • Shanshan Chen
    Writer
    Filming
  • Liz Mermin
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 14, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    XAVC HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Chinese Visual Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 10, 2017
Distribution Information
  • Reuters New service
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - Shanshan Chen

Shanshan Chen is a multimedia producer and filmmaker with the Thomson Reuters Foundation based in London. Her short documentaries explore topics such as refugees and migrants, women’s rights, LGBT rights and China-related themes, and have been featured on BBC (US), TIME (US), The Atlantic (US), Aeon (US), and KCET (US).

Add Director Biography