5 Ways/Five Ways is a narrative feature film, shorthand for the lengthy working title, "5 Imagined Ways In Which Your Birthmother Cedes You to Fate /5 Impossible Ways in Which You Meet Her Again."

Nearly ten years after the end of China's one-child policy, the film is guided by the perpetual stream of what ifs that confront adoptees and birth mothers alike. For adoptees, two big questions emerge at the core of speculation: first, Why did she give me away? And second, What if we meet again? Accordingly, 5 Ways/5 Ways is composed of ten quasi-vignettes, each with distinctive stylistic elements. The first five tell their own stories of Chinese birthmothers who, under impossible circumstances, gave their child to fate. The latter come from the unfettered imagination of a Chinese adoptee, each one realizing a different iteration of the near-impossible scenario where she and her birthmother reunite.

5 Ways/5 Ways is currently in progress, seeking support for script development. You can view the teaser and project proposal linked to the left (desktop) or above (mobile).