Hanxiong Bo’s ‘Drifting’ Delves Into China’s One Child Policy
Hanxiong Bo, an L.A.-based filmmaker who was born and raised in Beijing, has a new, critically acclaimed short called Drifting that deals with a key political and social issue in China—the one-child policy that has been designed to make a difference to the population infrastructure.
Inspired by true events, Drifting is the story of Yan, an illegal, second-born child. To avoid government punishment, Yan’s parents hid their oldest daughter in the countryside and raised Yan as a girl. Now a young adult, Yan is facing struggles with his gender identity.
Drifting was a semi-finalist at the 2019 Student Academy Awards and was selected for San Sebastian Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival, and FilmFest Dresden International Short Film Festival. Due to the pandemic, many of these festivals have been postponed.
OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat more with Bo about the film and why he wanted to tell a story centered around this controversial topic.
Hi, Hanxiong! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your film, Drifting. Without giving too much away, can you tell us more about it?
This film is about people who are living a certain way. However, at the end of the film, for me, it’s about the love of family.
Can you talk more about the film’s concept? This story was inspired by true events?
I wanted to make a film about a family that love each other and will always fight together. They will make sacrifices for each other. When I was doing research and started to find stories about this boy growing up as a girl, and all the struggles and difficulties he endured as a teenager, I found this character touching and started to dig more and research this story.
Because many people only have one child, they have certain expectations for that child. Sometimes it’s about their gender. Having a boy is a big thing; it’s tradition. A lot of girls were sent away, and some went into hiding. The ideology parents have about gender, they don’t care about what their kids feel like or how they naturally respond to anything, and that’s something that came later into the story. That is something I wanted to tell right. So, that is kind of why I wanted to make this film.
You were born and raised in Beijing, so you had a first-hand point of view of China’s one-child policy. What kind of impact did this policy have on the country, and what were some of the consequences if one violated it?
You know, it is such a complex thing. It impacted the entire country and so many people on different levels. I was lucky to be born into a big city. All of my friends are an only child. I think the most direct thing is, because parents were only allowed to have one child, they have such high expectations for their kid, and the kids had to deal a lot with that. Sometimes it’s hard, but it is also a positive thing. I think this policy has more of an impact on the countryside where people have more traditional ideology about their offspring.
Did you personally know anyone who violated the policy?
Yes, I did.
Even though the Chinese government abolished the one-child policy in 2015, are there still regulations on how many children a family can have?
Right now, I think you can have three. You are encouraged to have more children, but many people are still only having one child because that is what they are used to. Sometimes, because of the economics, raising more than one child is too hard. Food, energy, all these resources. If it’s hard for one child; imagine putting all these resources to many.
Do you think China will ever lift all regulations on how many children families can have?
I don’t know about that. It is planned, but we’ll see what people want to do right now. 
How has Drifting been received by audiences?
It has been positive. A lot of the U.S. festivals have been postponed because of the virus, so I didn’t get a chance to really engage with audiences, but people have been liking it. It got their attention, and people are talking about ways they think about a film. Some people do get a little bit confused about the way I tell the story and the backstory of the situation, but I didn’t mean to make a film to explain every aspect of the history of China or the history of the policy. It’s more about me addressing certain topics, and if people are interested, you can look more into the policy yourself. My film is about the policy and this family. This character.
Your stories reflect the fear and struggle people usually do not share. Have you always had a passion for writing and storytelling?
Yes. When I was young, watching films was my favorite thing to do, what I enjoyed the most. I had to learn other things like art and math, but the only time I truly felt free was when I was watching films while eating dinner with my parents. Like, I want to tell a story and reflect something. When I moved to the U.S. for college, I studied at the Art Institute of Chicago; that really helped me to think about what artists should do and what a storyteller should do to find their voice.
What is the number-one thing you hope audiences take away from Drifting?
No matter how hard parents push their children; you are still family. You need to have communication. Parents are always the ones to sacrifice themselves for their children. Always know that the love is there.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, there has been a lot of racial tensions towards Chinese people. Is there anything you would like to say about that?
Well, it’s really hard to comment on these things because it’s all about the media. How the media has all these public figures talk and lead people to think in a certain way, but people need to try and stay positive and think for themselves. Get educated. From the beginning, it has been said that this virus came from China, but we need to look at and figure how it was brought worldwide. It may have come from somewhere else, and China is being blamed. There is a lot of political reasoning behind it. It is very complicated.
What’s next? Do you have any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
I am using this time to write my first feature that will be set in the U.S. I am also preparing to shoot more short films.
To stay up-to-date with Bo, follow him on social media.
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