A third-grade class at Evergreen Primary holds an election for Class Monitor, an important, authoritarian position that had previously always been appointed by the teacher. Three candidates campaign, holding debates and showing their intellectual and artistic skills, until one is voted the winner
As the film unfolds, we watch three 8-year-olds—two boys and a girl, all products of China’s one-child policy—wage a no-holds-barred campaign for the coveted position. The young candidates are egged on by their overeager parents, who encourage their children to use whatever it takes, including strong-arming, bribery, back room bargaining and personal attacks. What ensues is a campaign that rivals any American election in its lack of gentility.
Charming, surprising, and enlightening, the film reveals the details of daily life in Wuhan, a city in middle China about the size of London, where the family homes and modern schools are not so different from our own. Nor are the hopes and dreams of the children and parents, which proves that—at least during election season—human nature is universal.
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