Xin Man (Canada)
Excellence Award
Author Biography:
Bilingual poet, film and stage playwright. Editor-in-chief at the North American Writers Media Publishing Center. Her scripts have won awards at international film festivals, the Remi Award, and the Excellence Award at the first Global Micro-Series Literature & Screenplay Competition of the US-China Writers Association. Her poetry has received the Grand Prize at the International Chinese Poetry Cup. She has published the English poetry collection Where You Love Yourself, the Chinese poetry collection Flowers Kiss the Sun, the poetry guidebook Flowers Kiss the Volcano: Your First Poetry Exploration Book, and the screenplay Stay Alive.
Awarded Work: Facing (80 episodes)
Story Synopsis:
This drama is a realistic family-centered story focusing on mental health, special education, family breakdown, and the lack of social support. It tells the story of a mother who, in the face of a collapsing family, her children’s psychological disorders, and societal prejudice, rises from despair with determination and love.
The protagonist is Mrs. Zhou, a Chinese mother living abroad. She raises two children with severe psychological and developmental disorders on her own: her 14-year-old son David suffers from major depression and anxiety, while 9-year-old Jim has autism accompanied by intellectual disabilities. Initially, she lived with her husband Mr. Song, but as the children’s conditions worsened, he increasingly avoided family responsibilities, became emotionally distant, and eventually left home, filing for divorce, leaving Mrs. Zhou to shoulder the burden alone.
Crisis follows crisis. David goes missing on his way home from school, prompting Mrs. Zhou to rush between the school and the police station, eventually rescuing him from a suicide attempt at a lake. Later, David suffers persistent bullying at school, is assaulted after refusing extortion, and, in emotional turmoil, threatens revenge. He is expelled and entangled in a criminal lawsuit. Meanwhile, Jim struggles with the classroom environment, frequently losing control, leaving the household in chaos and crisis.
Exhausted and isolated, Mrs. Zhou experiences a profound psychological turning point. She accepts her husband’s departure, signs the divorce papers, reclaims her maiden name “Zhou,” and stands up anew, taking full responsibility for both children. She is not a “heroic mother” in the conventional sense, but through her actions she embodies the most fundamental and profound form of maternal love—painful yet unwavering, humble yet radiant.
For David, she contacts the school to secure witness testimony from Barry, and with the help of her friend Melody and an honest lawyer, she actively defends him in court, striving to clarify the truth behind the incidents. She also engages art teacher Cathy to help David express himself and heal through painting. Under this artistic guidance, David gradually reveals extraordinary imagination and artistic talent, rediscovering his means of self-expression. Jim, under the care of doctors, slowly builds basic trust in the outside world. Together, mother and children take small steps toward rebuilding their fractured lives.
Professional Commentary:
The drama powerfully depicts a single mother navigating life with two children facing psychological and developmental challenges. Its dramatic highlights lie in the intersection of family collapse, school bullying, and institutional indifference, portraying the life-and-death struggle and how maternal love and social support can reconstruct hope. A humanistic and touching urban family drama.
