Focus

Ma shows reel strength as projectionist

By Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-20 07:54

Ma Gongzhi, who suffered infant paralysis and is only 1.43 meters tall, carries two film projectors to a village screening. Provided to China Daily

BEIJING - When Ma Gongzhi was a teenager, his sister used to carry him on her back to watch movies at village screenings in his native Hunan province.

"It was fabulous," said the 36-year-old. "Television sets were really rare back then in the 1980s."

Born with infantile paralysis, Ma has struggled with serious disabilities his entire life and today is only 1.43 meters tall. Yet his disability has not prevented him from indulging in his love of cinema by becoming a rural projectionist.

For the last 22 years, he has shown more than 10,000 films in five townships across Yongxing county. His determined attitude has helped him to support his family and provide a vital service to his community.

After dropping out of middle school in 1988 because his family could not afford the tuition fees, Ma borrowed a projector from a family friend.

"He insisted I carry the projector on my own, otherwise he would not tell me how to screen films," said Ma, whose mother was also a projectionist. "I did it and so he taught me."

For his first public screening, Ma charged adults 5 jiao (about 7 US cents) and children 2 jiao. Although he made only 10 yuan from that movie, within four months he was able to spend 1,960 yuan ($290) on a new projector.

Shortly after, Ma met his wife, Tan Fengying, at one of his mobile cinema shows. "She said she was attracted to me because I was little but strong," he joked.

The couple was married two years later and now has two children - a daughter named Dianying, which is the Chinese word for "movie", and a son called Yingxing, or "movie star".

"It's amazing but movies are like a bridge connecting me with my husband and my children," said Tan.

Last year, Ma joined the New Rural Film-screening Project and now receives a 40-yuan subsidy from the provincial government for each screening.

Although far from rich, Ma said he does not expect any favors from the county or provincial governments. "I just want to live a normal life like my neighbors," he added.

Ma's dream for the future is to buy a digital video camera to record the lives of farmers in his county, especially those who help out people in need.

China Daily