 |
| A recreation of China's bountiful one-child policy propaganda that shows one of the hidden effects of its implementation screams loud on this poster for Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang's One Child Nation |
In an effort to avoid mass hunger and provoke better life circumstances, China's effective 1979-2015 one-child policy was unique, but came with very tall human costs.
One Child Nation is a documentary by Chinese Americans Nanfu Wang (Hooligan Sparrow (2016, documentary) and Jialing Zhang (Complicit (2017, documentary)). Both were born in China during the one-child policy, and Wang is able to search out family members in her quest for answers. The film's strength is very attached to its personal relevance for the filmmakers.
What is uncovered in One Child Nation is not completely shocking for those with prior insight into China's evil Communist system, but hearing the stories and seeing images and contemplating the massive scale of the effects, - at one point the forced abortions and baby killings are counted in the hundreds of millions, - is shocking nevertheless. Forced sterilizations of women, destruction of homes and arrests of those who violated the policy, as well as babies left to die - especially baby girls - as a normalized practice for decades, the one-child policy comes to stand as another pitch black era of inhumane evil in the already packed annals of death and horror in the 20th century.
One Child Nation follows its story to the adopted Chinese children in the US, who may not want to know about the truth of their heritage, and one person working for these connections regrets this towards the film's end. - But can you blame these individuals for not wanting to know about this unfathomable mass of abuse, terror, inhumanity and disempowerment that is China? People are only cogs in a machine in that most distasteful of countries.
Related post:
Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2019 in films - according to Film Excess
Cost: Unknown
Box office: 271k $
= Uncertain
[One Child Nation premiered 26 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 89 minutes. Shooting took place in China and in Utah. The film opened #54 to a 20k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #40 and in 36 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 270k $. The only other market reported is the UK with 1k $. The film has screened at numerous festivals around the world, winning the documentary prize at Sundance, among other honors, with 3 more scheduled festivals for 2019, and it is a hot contender for the Best Documentary Oscar. Wang and Zhang have not announced their next project. One Child Nation is certified fresh at 99 % with an 8.44/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of One Child Nation?
No comments:
Post a Comment