Festival born out of snapshots of a mother's life

The fourth International Women's Festival kicked off in Beijing last Friday. The brainchild of Beijing-based theater director Li Zi, the biennial event made its debut in 2011.

Four theatrical works will be staged from August 16 to September 10 in Beijing, all focused on female themes.

This year, the festival opened with the Hong Kong-based Drama Gallery's Deadline, which was inspired by the true story of Etan Patz, a boy who was abducted and killed in New York in 1979. Directed by Benny Yu and written by playwright Yu Hon-ting, the drama premiered in Hong Kong in 2012.