Please Vote for Me

Eight year-old students teach us about power, corruption, and democracy.

Weijun Chen / China / 2007 / 52 min / Chinese with English subtitles

Is democracy a universal value that suits human nature? Do elections inevitably lead to manipulation? Please Vote for Me is a portrait of a society and a town in through a school, its children and its families.

Wuhan is a city about the size of London located in central China. It is here that director Weijun Chen has conducted an experiment in democracy. A Grade 3 class at Evergreen Primary School has their first encounter with democracy by holding an election to select a Class Monitor. Eight-year-olds compete against each other for the coveted position, abetted and egged on by teachers and doting parents.

Elections in China take place only within the Communist Party, but recently millions of Chinese voted in their version of Pop Idol. The purpose of Weijun Chen's experiment is to determine how democracy would be received if it came to China.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME is one of ten selected as part of the Why Democracy? project, which saw interpretations of democracy by 10 film makers from around the world broadcast on 42 television
networks in October, 2007, to audiences of more than 300 million people in nearly every country in the world.

Trailer

Credits

Awards & Festivals

2008 2nd Place, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Children's Jury Award for Documentary Film or Video
2008 Winner, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Adult's Jury Award for Documentary Film or Video
2008 Winner, Ashland Independent Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature

Film site & Reviews

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