Thursday June 26, 2008 Hong Kong Following the announcement in May that a fundraising docu-drama, titled Seven Days That Shook The World <震撼世界的七日> will be filmed about the Sichuan earthquake that struck on 12 May, filming has commenced on the series, which will combine the reconstruction of true stories and news footage to create a lasting record and tribute to the disaster and the days following it. One of the show's stars Dicky Cheung (張衞健), who is not taking a fee for this work, revealed that he spoke to a counsellor before heading out to the disaster area to learn about the best way to communicate with the victims when he met them. He said that he will be playing the role of a headmaster of a primary school in Mianzhu, who joined the PLA soldiers and the emergency workers to help rescue people trapped in the rubble. He told of how the headmaster had returned to the school to find that one of the teachers Zhang Miya (張米亞) had used his own body to shield two children from a falling concrete block, giving up his own life to rescue those of his students. Thinking back to the scenes relayed from the site of the earthquake when he arrived in the village of Hanwang, Dicky sighed that he felt extremely uncomfortable that a village of over 8000 inhabitants has been reduced to a pile of rubble. He said that at the school where over 200 children were buried alive, there were still piles of possessions and signs that this was a bustling and lively place. Dicky admitted that at first he thought that these items were props and was shocked to learn that these were the actual items that were left over from the earthquake. Seeing the drawings, the schoolbags and stationery strewn among the rubble left Dicky with a very solemn and sombre feeling. The simple production will have no special treatment and the extras for the re-enactments will be played by local villagers and soldiers themselves, many of them re-living the experiences of the day that disaster struck to keep the memories alive. After his day of filming in the area, Dicky offered some words of advice to any other artistes or support workers who planned to visit the people in the region. He said that the situation is still extremely sensitive, so outsiders should refrain from saying things that will upset the victims and witnesses of the quake. He explained that even something like mistaking the name of the village can cause a lot of anger and distress because this could be taken as a sign of disrespect or neglect. Filming continues for Seven Days for the next 20 days. credits: batgwa.
Im glad he took on professional advice on how to interact with the pple affected by the earthquake, its a responsible thing to do. When i hear how 'stars' decided to go and visit, i thought it was rediculous cos they arent professional helpers etc. So im glad someone has some sense to take responsible actions before just turning up and talking to those affected.
ohh interesting a documentary. seems pretty cool. i also agree that i think it was gd for him to get advice on how best to communicate before going there.
