“Fields of Mudan”

I’ve seen “Fields of Mudan” several times over the last few years and it still affects me deeply and profoundly each time. This is an intense, but necessary film.

Mudan is a young Asian girl who is forced into sex slavery by a brutal madam in a child brothel. Mudan clings to her memories of her mother, and her hope that her mother will one day rescue her and take her to America, a land of promise and dreams. In the midst of the hostile surroundings of the brothel, Mudan befriends another brothel girl, Faye, and the two seek out any small opportunity they have to live as ordinary girls. Those opportunities are few and far between, and eventually their circumstances overtake them.

Created as a masters thesis project in 2004 by Stevo Chang, a graduate student at the film school of Florida State University, “Fields of Mudan” has won numerous awards and recognitions at film festivals in the U.S. and abroad, including the Amnesty International Award and as a finalist in the 2006 Academy Awards. Stevo cites his his five-year-old niece, and his realization that girls the same age as his niece are being enslaved all over the world, as his inspiration. He therefore used his thesis project as an opportunity to speak out against sex slavery and child prostitution in a deep and meaninful way.

AB Women’s Ministries has shown the film in small group settings several times. However, we always let people know ahead of time that it is an intense film so they can discern if they want to stay. In some instances, older teen girls (juniors and seniors in high school) have seen the film with parental permission. It is not an easy film to watch, but it is an excellent resource for engaging in the issue of sex trafficking and child prostitution.

“Fields of Mudan” (23 minutes) is available through Indieflix.com for 30-day streaming for $1.95. Proceeds go to The Polaris Project and International Justice Mission. The film is also available as a manufacture-on-demand DVD through Amazon.com for $9.95.

–Sandy