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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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Chen, Weijun
Institution:Open Society Archives at Central European University
Language:Mandarin Chinese
Published: Edkins, Don 2006
China
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:f62dcbaf-6b2f-407b-9cda-ea913bc8e887
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author2 Chen, Weijun
author_facet Chen, Weijun
collection OSA Film Library
dateSpan 2006
description 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.
genre libraryUnit
geographic China
id bulk_7D7A8BB8-E77F-4897-BBDC-DF07056D42BC
institution Open Society Archives at Central European University
language Mandarin Chinese
publishDate 2006
publisher Edkins, Don
China
spellingShingle Please, Vote for Me
[Documentary film]
title Please, Vote for Me
topic [Documentary film]
url http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:f62dcbaf-6b2f-407b-9cda-ea913bc8e887