Born in China

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.

A deeply thought provoking and emotionally confronting look at some the people affected by, or tasked with enforcement of China's one child policy established in 1979. The narrative is mostly driven by the film maker's recollections of her experience, and interviews with her family and others in the area where she grew up.

Excellent film making, use of imagery, narration and examination of a number of different perspectives. Very sensitively approaching the subject, she was able to gently yet persuasively coax some truly shocking admissions of guilt from some of her interviewees. Be prepared for some awful images, but thankfully these scenes are not dwelt on for long as macabre voyeurism was not the intent, but to solidly make the point of what happened to many babies. The story told indicates that the one-child policy was implemented in a harsh, cruel, uncompromising and unforgiving way, although it seems the government eventually recognised the need to protect and find new homes via international adoption programmes for babies that were abandoned by their parents trying to avoid the harsh penalties that they would face.

The only criticism is that there is not much in the way of analysis of the reasons that led up to the point of the introduction of the policy in China. This was hinted at by interviews with her mother, but not much else. For an example of a country that should have, but hasn't introduced population control measures, take a look at India. There, they have well over 100 million people enduring appalling, squalid, miserable poverty and hundreds of millions more struggling daily to eke out a meagre existence. Religious dogma and lack of understanding about environmental impact regarding unrestrained human reproduction are at least partly to blame for the coming crisis of over-population in most parts of the world. If the human race is to avoid large scale wars over food, water and climate change induced migration in the next 30 years, then global population controls need to be carefully introduced and incentivised, but not the way the PRC did it. Seen at NZIFF Wellington by a parent of one child.

The documentary on China's One-Child Nation leaves you numb and forces you to think to what extent humans can go for their desires. China has been able to control its population to a large extent which would've had a huge impact on its economy and maybe it wouldn't have been here today where it is but at what cost? It's a difficult question and makes you speechless.

The movie is very insightful and brings the topic to the discussion which wasn't the case. It's truly a must-watch.

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.

Yes, this film makes a clear case for the serious consequences that happen when paternalistic societies fail to value and provide equal rights for women. Whether it's rabid anti-choice proponents in America who clearly feel that individual women should be denied the right to make reproductive decisions for themselves, or Chinese communist authorities who perpetuate the party line to force abortions and sterilization, the losers are always women and all of society. We all need to learn this lesson and this film makes this point in a devastating and personal way.