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..." :)

This documentary showed some of the truth of China. Not every Chinese are fond of "vote". In my option, 80% or more people living here don't care who will be the leader, they just care about there OWN life. "If I can get rich anyway, I don't care who is wearing the crown even he is a totally b*****d."But, if the b*****d can not do the job, they just waiting for the "god's willing" to punish him, their patience is FAR MORE beyond your white's imagination.Probably, there will be change, but not my or your eyes could witness.Well, guys, it is hard to find this film to watch HERE, that might prove that this documentary is not "lead" by a liberal politico---that kind of creature is more rare than panda.

Many people don't realize there are village and town level elections in China. I'm fairly certain at least over 90% if not all of the villages and towns have leaders democratically elected. (Note: the government usually don't pick the candidates, but voting fraud happen from time to time from what I heard. Yes, this is what happens when there's a democracy without proper voter education and regulations, most importantly, without a real voting culture. people just buy votes.) Therefore I have no reason to question the authenticity of this documentary. Common, it's an election between three third graders.If you think Chinese government care enough to stage this documentary you are most definitely paranoid.This documentary itself actually made cases for both pro-democracy and anti-democracy arguments. On one hand, it's scary to have uneducated voters and unregulated voting process in a democracy; on another hand, without real democracy, the imitation can only be so crude and cruel.

Putting it politely, China is not specifically known for its democratic processes. Normally in Chinese schools, Class Monitor is chosen by the teachers however, on this occasion, the staff have decided to hold a democratic election among the eight year olds to elect a class committee and the student with the most votes there will become Monitor. The three candidates selected are Luo Lei, Cheng Cheng and Xu Xiaofei and so begins the process of canvassing, debating and electioneering.A marvellous little film this one. Filmed in the Chinese school in question, the crew have great access to the classroom and the home lives of the candidates and as a result we get a fascinating snapshot of the democratic process. I chose to ignore the voices in the back of my head that nag at me about how "real" it all is and how the crew got such great access within China etc because the structure of the film is engaging enough to make me forget these minor worries. The "plot" of the documentary is really the candidates taking on one another in debates and trying to win the popular vote and on this level it is really engaging. It helps that the three pupils are real lively characters and make for interesting subjects but of greater value to me was watching how all the things we have come to know in elections are right there from the very start in these eight year olds and their parents.We get dirty tricks, as seen in Xiaofei's opposition organising booing and jeering during her talent show. We get lying and manipulation of the voters and the other candidates; Cheng Cheng being a surprisingly Machiavellian character given his age. It is also fun to watch how the naïve attitude of Lei (saying that he wants people to just vote for whoever they want) is changed as he becomes more driven and clever. Of course all candidates show the importance of presentation and spin as they present themselves, as well as jumping right into negative campaigning against one another as well.Without any obvious prompting from the filmmakers, this all just seems to happen and it is interesting to see it all develop seemingly naturally. The children themselves are a delight and the classroom is full of life and energy, making it easy to engage with even if you are not taken by the parallels with Western democracy. A great little film then; not entirely sure what its agenda is or how it fits in with the real political situation in China but it is fascinating nonetheless to see the election process immediately bring out all the tricks and negativity that we have become tired of in the West.