Wuhan is a city in central China
about the size of London, and 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, if democracy came to China, it would be received.
Is democracy a universal value that fits human nature? Do elections
inevitably lead to manipulation? Please Vote for Me is a portrait
of a society and a town through a school, its children and
its families.
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