San Francisco, California: Audience Condemns Chinese Communist Party Atrocities After Viewing Documentary

(Minghui.org) The Canadian award-winning documentary State Organs was screened at the Cubberley Community Center Theatre in Palo Alto, California on November 8, 2024. After watching the documentary, many audience members condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) atrocities of harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners while they are alive.

Approximately 300 people watched the documentary State Organs at the Cubberley Community Center Theatre in Palo Alto on November 8, 2024.

Director Zhang Yongjin and commentator Sunan talk with the audience. 

State Organs has won multiple awards, including the 2023 Canadian Lion Award for Best Director and Best Music Award, the 2024 American Gold Medal Film Competition Award, the 2024 Art Film Spirit Award, and the Manhattan Film Festival’s Best Human Rights Documentary Award. It has also been shortlisted for the Montreal Independent Film Festival and the European Theater Film Festival. It is currently competing for the 2025 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.

The film reveals the brutality of the CCP-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners through first-hand accounts, including exclusive interviews with doctors involved in live organ harvesting and recordings of victims before they disappeared.

Director: Presenting the Real Story to the Audience

Director Zhang Yongjin

Director Zhang Yongjin said that he first heard about the CCP’s forced organ harvesting in 2006. He was not surprised because he knew about the CCP’s atrocities during its previous political campaigns. “But when I interviewed a doctor who participated in the live organ harvesting in 2016, he told me the details of the whole process of live organ harvesting and his inner feelings, which shocked me greatly,” Mr. Zhang recalled.

Director Zhang used to live in China. “I used to have strong [Chinese Communist] Party culture. After completing this documentary, I found that it was a process of redemption for myself. I found that the notions instilled by the Party culture were gradually removed. After making the documentary, I felt reborn.”

In discussing why the documentary was made, Mr. Zhang said that this is an important historical event. “I hope to reflect the matter through the perspective of witnesses of live organ harvesting and the families of victims, and present these facts to the audience. After watching the film, the audience can draw their own conclusions.”

President of the San Francisco Peninsula Republican Assembly: Astonished by the CCP’s Atrocities

Elizabeth Starks, President of the San Francisco Peninsula Chapter of the California Republican Assembly

Elizabeth Starks watched the documentary with friends and was stunned by the CCP’s atrocities. She said, “Horrible. What communism is doing is very sad. They do live organ harvesting and harm many people.” 

Ms. Starks, who is from Peru, said, “We cannot accept communism. The persecution of Falun Gong is abominable. People just disappear like that, and they are all very good people.

“I was shocked, I was completely shocked,” she said. “I didn’t know this was happening. It’s very sad.”

Film Reflects the CCP’s Anti-Human Nature 

Feng Congde, former student leader during 1989 democracy movement

After watching the documentary, former student movement leader Feng Congde said that the Chinese people have suffered a great catastrophe in the 20th century. In peacetime, the number of Chinese people persecuted to death by the CCP exceeded that of the entire war period. “This shows how evil the CCP is, especially in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,” Mr. Feng said. “People in China now call this issue ‘human mine’. The CCP treats people like mining. Human organs belong to the state, and it can kill you at any time. This fully reflects the CCP’s anti-human nature.” 

Regarding the CCP’s forced organ harvesting, Feng Congde said, “I feel very sad that the world has not paid due attention to this. I never doubted the fact of live organ harvesting. The United States has begun to realize that the world’s biggest evil is the CCP, and we should focus on solving this issue.”

Mr. Feng strongly agrees with Falun Gong practitioners’ peaceful march at the end of the documentary, which calls for the disintegration of the CCP. “Heaven’s destruction of the CCP is very exciting. It uses this non-violent way of withdrawing from the CCP to awaken a large number of people.”

Audience Supports Falun Gong

Daniel Goodwin, who works in the legal field, heard about Falun Gong in 2018. After watching the documentary, he said that more people should be made aware of the CCP’s crime of live organ harvesting. “Many people don’t know about this yet,” he said, “but they should know about this atrocity. I started to learn about it in 2018.”

Daniel Goodwin condemned the persecution of Falun Gong.

“The CCP doesn’t just persecute Falun Gong,” he said. “Now the CCP is also persecuting people from other groups. But the CCP mostly persecutes Falun Gong practitioners.”

As a Christian, he expressed his support for Falun Gong practitioners’ freedom of belief.

Dr. Li, a cardiologist, watched the documentary with her husband. She said, “I knew the CCP persecuted Falun Gong, but I didn’t know the persecution was so severe, with one hundred million people being persecuted. I didn’t know the CCP specifically persecuted Falun Gong before. China has such a big problem, and the CCP is wrong to do this.”

Patty Willett, retired from a Silicon Valley computer company, wept while she watched the documentary. “It was the first time I heard about Falun Gong,” she said. “Seeing them being persecuted made me feel very sad and tears came to my eyes. I could feel what their parents had to endure. I couldn’t bear to watch some parts.”

Patty Willett, a retired Silicon Valley employee

Ms. Willett said Falun Gong was completely new to her. “I like the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. This touches me. They have spiritual beliefs. What happened to them [organ harvesting] is unacceptable to me.

“Especially because they are so kind,” she said, “it’s unacceptable to cut up their bodies while they are still alive. The parents are looking for their children, but they can’t find them. It’s heartbreaking.”

Denys, a software engineer from Ukraine, said, “We never heard of Falun Gong before. Today, we not only learned about Falun Gong, but also about the CCP’s crimes against humanity.”

Hannah (left) and Denys (right) from Ukraine

Hannah, also from Ukraine, said, “The CCP is evil, and communism is evil. Just like the Soviet Union, communism is evil everywhere. I hope this film can play a role. Exposure will help. Exposing the evil of communism will cause the CCP to disintegrate.”

This wasn’t the first time Erica Hathaway, a pet sitter, had heard about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong and its crime of forced organ harvesting. After watching the documentary, she gained a deeper understanding of the extent of the CCP’s crimes. “I knew that the CCP was harvesting organs from living people, but I didn’t know it was on such a large scale, with so many people being detained and their organs harvested for profit.”

Erica Hathaway admires Falun Gong. 

Ms. Hathaway admires Falun Gong practitioners’ firm belief. “They are persecuted to death for their belief, which shows that they are very firm in their belief. I pray for them and hope that the persecution will end soon.”

She said that the documentary is excellent. “It is credible. All the information is credible, and it’s well-made. It’s portrayed in such a direct way that makes people feel that something must be done about it.”