Please, Vote for Me
Verzio FF submission What does democracy look like in the world’s largest Communist country? Think small, very small. This documentary features a third grade class in Wahun province and the intense politicking that marks the contest for the post of Class Monitor. It is also a classic election drama,...
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| Institution: | Open Society Archives at Central European University |
| Language: | Mandarin Chinese |
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Edkins, Don
2006
China |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:f62dcbaf-6b2f-407b-9cda-ea913bc8e887 |
| Summary: | Verzio FF submission
What does democracy look like in the world’s largest Communist country? Think small, very small. This documentary features a third grade class in Wahun province and the intense politicking that marks the contest for the post of Class Monitor. It is also a classic election drama, albeit with 7-year-olds. The three candidates, two boys and a girl, are selected by the teachers, but they conduct real campaigns and are chosen in a free election. Ironically, their goal is to become the student charged with maintaining order and reporting rule violations to the teachers. What starts out as an innocent game soon turns into a treacherous struggle worthy of grown-up politics. The main advisers to the candidates are their parents, who perhaps take the youngsters' nomination more seriously than the children themselves. Dirty tricks abound: bribing fellow students by promising them a certain job, dishing the dirt on opponents, using flattery and threats, and, last but not least, handing out pre-election gifts. The film provides a private view of a microcosm of contemporary Chinese culture. Please Vote for Me was made as part of the "Why Democracy?" documentary project using film to start a global debate about democracy, with productions by independent award-winning filmmakers from around the world, including China, India, Japan, Liberia, USA, Bolivia, Denmark, Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan and Russia. |
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| Published: | 2006 |