One Child Nation

China’s One-Child policy—a state-controlled birth rate scheme that prohibited couples to have more than one child—was terminated in 2015. However, it seems that dealing with the years-long trauma, which involved brutal enforcement, has just begun. In her new film, courageous documentarian Nanfu Wang (Hooligan Sparrow) explores the domino effect of the notorious social experiment and reveals endless human rights violations: from the abandonment of infants, forced abortions, and sterilizations, to state-sponsored kidnappings. Wang intertwines her personal story with archival propaganda material and testimonies by both perpetrators and victims. The outcome, for which Wang was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, is an exemplary work of outstanding significance and emotional force.