Petition (film)

Petition (Chinese: 上访；pinyin: shàngfǎng) is a documentary released in 2009 by Chinese independent filmmaker Zhao Liang. The film was screened as a Special Screening of the official selection of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Over the course of 12 years (1996-2008), director Zhao Liang follows the "petitioners", who travel from all over China to the nation's capital, Beijing, to make complaints about injustices committed by authorities in their home towns and villages. Most petitioners wait for months or years for their grievances to be heard, while they live in makeshift shelters around the southern railway station of Beijing. All types of cases are represented: mothers of abused young soldiers, farmers thrown off their land, workers from demolished factories, and more. The documentary explores the Sisyphean lives of the petitioners as they contend with the authorities and their own families in their struggle for restitution and survival. At times it was filmed with hidden cameras smuggled into government offices.

Awards

2012

  • Open City Docs Fest, London, U.K.

2011

  • The Marek Nowicki Prize, the XI International Film Festival WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film, Warsaw, Poland

2010

  • Golden Reel Award, 9th Tiburon International Film Festival, California, U.S.A.
  • Jury Award, Festival Internationnal du Film des Droits de I’Homme à Paris, France
  • Humanitarian Awards for Documentaries, 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong
  • Documentary Edge Best Director, DOCNZ 2010, Auckland, New Zealand

2009

2008

References
  1. "Retrospective 2009, Special Screenings". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.


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