Please Vote for Me (2007)

Original title

请投我一票

Directed by

Weijun Chen

Genre

documentary film

Country

People's Republic of China

Runtime

58 min

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 31 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Third graders in a Chinese primary school run for class monitor. Teachers and parents push them hard through debates and campaigns.

observationalrevealingchildlikecompetitivemanipulativethought-provokingintimatewry

What happens

Please Vote for Me (Chinese: 请投我一票; pinyin: Qǐng tóu wǒ yī piào) is a 2007 documentary film following the elections for class monitor in a 3rd grade class of eight-year-old children in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China. The candidates, Luo Lei, Xu Xiaofei, and Cheng Cheng, compete against each other for the coveted role and are egged on by their teachers and doting parents. This was reported to be an interesting use of classic democratic voting principles and interpersonal dynamics. The documentary gives a glimpse into China's contemporary urban middle classes. It won the Sterling Feature Award at Silverdocs in 2007. In November 2007, Please Vote for Me was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist. The list was narrowed to five films on January 22, 2008, but Please Vote for Me did not make it to the final five. The film is part of the "Why Democracy?" series. It was aired in no less than 35 countries, including the BBC in the UK and PBS (as part of Independent Lens) in the United States. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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