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One Child Nation

Original title: Born in China
  • 2019
  • R
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
7.6K
YOUR RATING
One Child Nation (2019)
'One Child Nation' uncovers the untold history of China's One-Child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.
Play trailer2:26
4 Videos
5 Photos
DocumentaryHistory

After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China's one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China's one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China's one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.

  • Directors
    • Nanfu Wang
    • Jialing Zhang
  • Stars
    • Nanfu Wang
    • Zaodi Wang
    • Zhimei Wang
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    7.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Nanfu Wang
      • Jialing Zhang
    • Stars
      • Nanfu Wang
      • Zaodi Wang
      • Zhimei Wang
    • 98User reviews
    • 51Critic reviews
    • 85Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
      • 10 wins & 50 nominations total

    Videos4

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:26
    Official Trailer
    One Child Nation
    Trailer 2:26
    One Child Nation
    One Child Nation
    Trailer 2:26
    One Child Nation
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:28
    Official Trailer
    One Child Nation: By Giving Her Away
    Clip 1:47
    One Child Nation: By Giving Her Away

    Photos4

    View Poster
    View Poster
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    Top cast19

    Edit
    Nanfu Wang
    Nanfu Wang
    • Self
    Zaodi Wang
    • Self
    Zhimei Wang
    • Self
    Tunde Wang
    • Self
    Xianwen Liu
    • Self
    Huaru Yuan
    • Self
    Shuqin Jiang
    • Self
    Peng Wang
    • Self
    Zhihao Wang
    • Self
    Shihua Wang
    • Self
    Guijiao Wang
    • Self
    Yueneng Duan
    • Self
    Meilin Duan
    • Self
    Brian Stuy
    • Self
    Longlan Stuy
    • Self
    • (as Long Lan Stuy)
    Jiaoming Pang
    • Self - Journalist
    Zhou
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Yang
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • Directors
      • Nanfu Wang
      • Jialing Zhang
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews98

    7.57.5K
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    Featured reviews

    8ferguson-6

    a personal look at the impact

    Greetings again from the darkness. Living in a free society means we get to make many of our own life decisions ... big ones and small. Of course, those decisions are best if managed within generally accepted societal norms. Most of us can't even imagine living under the rule of a government that controls something as personal as the number of kids we can have in our family. Well, in 1979 China imposed a "one child" policy. It stood for more than three decades, until 2015. Filmmakers Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang give us an insider's glimpse of the effects of this policy by talking to the folks who lived through it.

    Ms. Wang was born in China and moved to the U.S. Having recently had a baby, she decided to return to her birth country and explore the effects of the policy under which she was born. The social experiment and restrictive policy was instituted out of desperation for a country whose population was booming, yet the economy and food supply were a mess. She shows us the propaganda that was seemingly everywhere - from artwork on neighborhood walls to television shows. The approach was to make people think this was their patriotic duty, and that one child was the idyllic life.

    What has never been discussed or studied was the dark side of what the policy meant. It was a system that encouraged boys and downgraded girls. To Ms. Wang's credit, she interviews those on both sides of the policy - those who believe it was necessary and prevented over-population, and those who tell the horror stories of families torn apart, babies abandoned, and the secretive human trafficking that occurred. It's quite devastating to hear these people discuss the personal impact.

    The film is autobiographical in nature, in that Ms. Wang is our narrator, often appears on camera, and even interviews her own family members - both to personalize the story and to educate herself. Hearing the story of her grandfather stepping in to prevent sterilization of Nanfu's mother is incredible. We learn she later had a son who became the favored child within the family. And yes, we get details ... very specific details ... on the forced sterilizations and abortions that occurred. One doctor takes credit for 'tens of thousands' of abortions and sterilizations, which Ms. Wang effectively contrasts with America's ever-increasingly restrictive abortion policies. These are the two extremes in preventing women's control of their own bodies.

    No top government officials are interviewed, but the implications are quite clear. We even learn of the Utah organization Research-China that researches Asian children adopted during this era, often with the adoptive parents unaware of what was happening in China. We even learn of a set of twins who were separated at birth - one raised in the U.S., the other in China. They have never met. Ms. Wang is quite effective as a documentarian-journalist. Though the film lacks any attempt at style points, the details are astounding. She even shows how the Chinese government transitioned from 'one child' to marketing the benefits of a "two child" household, and how the propaganda machine kicked in. This film is all about impact, and it will deliver a gut-punch.
    8gabethurau

    Critique of the One-Child policy told through the people who lived it

    To me, the One-Child policy made sense when I was younger and didn't know any better. Fix overpopulation and hearken Malthus by limiting household size. Easy, right? This wasn't America after all; individual liberties are fewer in Communist China...because...isn't it for the good of the collective and not the individual? To my understanding, most of the Chinese were just banding together and willingly sacrificing for their country.

    The movie paints an entirely different picture. Yes, there were those believed they were rightful functioning as an extension of the Red policy. Yet, almost every single person that Wang interviews had to preface recollections of the forced sterilizations and abortions with four haunting words: "I had no choice."

    This movie investigates the intersect between acting willfully for your country and its opposite: being forced to do what are considered "necessary evils" for the longevity of the country.

    Wang is skeptical that any of this suffering needed to happen to begin with. She provides a counter-narrative to the Communist state, wondering if the mountains of abandoned girl babies were left to die in vain. In retrospect, the policy's dubious reasons point more towards a mindless allegiance to leadership than any saving grace from starvation. That's how the movie is presented, at least.

    Definitely worth the watch.
    6hongh

    I expected a broader perspective

    I don't like Communist China and many of its policies, including one child policy. I have the same overall view as the documentary. However, to make a more powerful documentary, they should have applied more scientific storytelling method and interviewed people from broader range of background. Moreover, the film should have involved less of her family and relatives to make it more objective.
    7Agentpie

    Condemning propaganda while spreading its own

    As a documentary it was very informative with insight from many that went through, enforced, and were victims of the one child policy. The film however did not take a bipartisan informative stance, which would allow viewers to form their own opinions. The filmmaker used a nations tragedy to promote her own ideas. The documentary focused on the tragedy of families having their babies killed, which the filmmaker managed to turn into a statement about how awful it was for Chinese women to not have a choice in the killing of their babies. She went further and said that the decision should be left to the mother. In other words, a dead baby under a bridge (as depicted in the film) is awful if the mother had no choice in the decision, however if it was her choice, a dead baby under a bridge is acceptable.
    7sc-11528

    Damn if you don't, damn if you do

    There are always two side to a policy, however one need to understand the context which resulted in this "one child" policy. China was struggling to feed its people. Its either mass starvation or mass migration. In fact, many had left and these are the Chinese living all across South East Asia. Imagine there was no policy and the people did not leave. How many more millions would have died of starvation. So before anyone condemn this "one child" policy claiming that many unborn children aborted, think of the millions who could have died due to starvation. This story depict the evil of "one child" policy but there is another side of story that is untold.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Nanfu Wang: But I want that decision to be my own. I'm struck by the irony that I left a country where the government forced women to abort and I moved to another country where the governments restrict abortions. On the surface they seem like opposites, but both are about taking away women's control of their own bodies.

    • Connections
      Featured in Subject (2022)

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    FAQ17

    • How long is One Child Nation?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 9, 2019 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Mandarin
    • Also known as
      • Народжений у Китаї
    • Filming locations
      • Jiangxi Province, China
    • Production companies
      • Chicago Media Project
      • Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $270,128
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $20,523
      • Aug 11, 2019
    • Gross worldwide
      • $271,841
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 23 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1
      • 16 : 9

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