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ONE WORLD 2011: Emergency Shelter

Date: 23 May 2011 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Venue: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, Yehudi Menuhin space, ASP bldg, Rue Wiertz, 1047 Bruxelles. SPECIAL SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS APPLY - PLEASE SEE BELOW.

Film by He Yang, China, 2010, 51 min.

Please note the security arrangements for screenings in the European Parliament:

  • you will be required to make your reservations at least one week in advance of the actual event,
  • you will also be required to provide your date of birth, nationality and the number of your ID card (please enter all this information, as well as the name, DoB, nationality and ID number of anyone who might be accompanying you, in the "note" section of the reservation system),
  • and please do not forget to bring your photo ID to the event in the EP.

Please note that unless you provide this data a week in advance, your entrance to the screening cannot be guaranteed.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

In 2001, when China celebrated Beijing's successful candidacy for the 2008 Olympic Games, Ni Yulan worked as a business lawyer for a large commercial corporation. The celebratory songs in the streets of the capital city had barely died out before they were replaced by the sound of wrecking balls. Buildings that stood in the way of future sports facilities, approach roads or hotels, were mercilessly demolished by the authorities. The consent of the owners of these buildings was not necessary, and compensation depended on how much influence one had. Ni Yulan began defending the victims of these forcible evictions in the courts. In the years that followed, she was arrested several times by the police, who beat her and tortured her to such an extent that she can no longer walk unaided. Twice she ended up in jail, and she was last released in April 2010. Her own home had been demolished in the meantime. She tells her story from her wheelchair in a park by a busy road, where she sleeps in a tent with her husband. This uncompromising filmic chronicle (which undeniably looks like it wasn't shot by professional documentary-makers, but by courageous human rights activists) follows their everyday life on the street and offers surprisingly open testimony from people for whom the great Olympic dream turned into a nightmare.

 

ONE WORLD 2011: EMERGENCY SHELTER

 

This screening is part of the One World in Brussels 2011 film festival.