Anni (2018)

• 75%
• 2018
• Documentary
• Rikun Zhu

Anni is a ten-year-old Chinese girl. In 2013, she was taken away by secret police and was banned from attending school shortly after she moved to an elementary school in Hefei city in China. Her father is a dissident under government surveillance. The government forbade her father from moving to a different house by controlling her schooling. Upon hearing the news, a number of people started to gather at a small public square outside the school gate in support of Anni. A few lawyers went on hunger strike. Some activists and petitioners also came to express their own political demands and personal grievances in relation to their rights. There were quarrels among the protesters because of different opinions. The parents and their children passed by with suspicion. Residents in the area had different views. Janitors complained that the protesters' banners messed up the neighborhood. Security guards demanded protesters being cooperative to their control while comforting the janitors. Anni practiced on her beloved skate board in the square. The national anthem was being played on campus. I took my camera toward the fence. Inside, Grade A students were giving speeches. The principal walked by and offered his judgment in his own way. He pointed out a scape goat. Ten days later, at the crack of dawn, several hundred police surrounded the square and an inn where the protesters were staying.