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Little Proletarian

Shen Jie

Release year: 2012

Run time: 69 mins

Film type: Documentary

Synopsis

An impactful documentary about a 14-year-old growing up in Guizhou Province. Kicked out of school for troublemaking, Hai is called a “loser” by his parents, and spends his days hanging out with a teen biker gang in the local hairdresser, dreaming of one day becoming a “boss”. Rejecting his parents’ attempts to bring him to heel, Hai sets out for the big city. Director Shen Jie is from Guizhou, and his deep connection to his home province enables him to capture a rare and intimate portrait of everyday life and coming of age in “marginal” China.

 

Director biography

Shen Jie, a graduate of Guizhou University, is a member of the editorial board of Film Auteur and has been making documentaries since 2010. His works have been exhibited at Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, Vancouver International Documentary Film Festival, Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival, French New Caledonia International Documentary Film Festival, Beijing Independent Film Festival, China Independent Film Festival, West Lake International Documentary Film Festival, and won the Jury Prize at the London Chinese Video Festival, the Golden Lotus Award for Best Documentary, and the Special Jury Prize at the Phoenix Video Documentary Conference. They have been awarded Top Ten of the China Independent Film Festival and Hong Kong Chinese Documentary Film Festival and third place at the Hong Kong Chinese Documentary Film Festival.