| Summary: | Lu Guo Hua is the corrupt but charming birth control officer in Fanshen, a rural community of northeast China. A village woman suspected of illegally being pregnant for the third time has disappeared. This causes consternation within the village council: she must have an abortion, for if the village exceeds its birth quota it will be severely sanctioned by the Communist Party. Mr. Lu’s own job is at stake. Local elections are coming up, and Mr. Lu has long dreamed of running for office. For six months in 2001, Jinchuan Duan filmed the local election campaign and the plotting, prevarications, and clever political manoeuvres that accompany it. The result is a humorous, insightful lesson into China’s attempts to adopt democratic norms and the impact of China’s one-child policy. Awarded a Silver Wolf in Amsterdam in 2002, The Secret of My Success is the first episode of the triptych Interesting Times, which probes a modern Chinese population.
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