Please Vote for Me (2007)

Democracy in China exists, that is, in a primary school in Wuhan where a grade 3 class can vote who they want as class monitor.

Director:

Weijun Chen

Stars:

Cheng Cheng, Luo Lei, Xu Xiaofei

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Cheng Cheng	...	Himself
Luo Lei	...	Himself
Xu Xiaofei	...	Herself

Storyline

Wuhan is a city in China the size of London where an experiment in democracy is conducted. At Evergreen Primary School, a grade 3 class learns what democracy is when an election for class monitor is being held. Three children are chosen by the teacher as candidates and they have a few days to campaign and convince their classmates to vote for them. The little candidates are seen at school and at home, where their parents do their best to make sure their child will win the election.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

China South Africa Denmark

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

3 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dlaczego demokracja? Prosze, glosujcie na mnie

Filming Locations:

Evergreen Primary School, Wuhan, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Steps International, Independent Television Service (ITVS), Arte France

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

It is so real and made me sad

The doc was filmed in my hometown, and the first thing I noticed is how crappy those kids, teachers and their parents' mandarin sounds:). We never really speak mandarin that often when I was in school, coz it is so uncool. Things definitely changed since I was there, so should I say somethings changed. Chinese people never enjoyed the true democracy since 1949, and the school system we are having just reflects the real society. This class monitor thing is just another part in the dictatorship hierarchy, teachers picked the kids they like to monitor other classmates, and cool kids like me never really care who will be the guy to monitor us coz we will fight the stupid system anyway. Why bother to introduce a democratic system to elect a little dictator anyway. Kids are so keen to get the job coz the power it represents. Parents are so keen to help their kids to win coz they know it will give them bonus at the time they graduate. For teachers, I have no idea, might be just extra fun at work... so anyway. China is never short of voting system, the problem is the government never wants people to understand the true democracy. I have the feeling that the director probably shares a similar feeling to me, which is sort of disappointment about these younger generation, which made me sad. By the way, I was elected as class monitor once in a quite similar way, but teacher refused to accept the result simply because he didn't like me and chose another kid. He said to us about his decision, "I trust you guys and give you the democratic rights, but look at the guy you chose, you are abusing your rights..." :)