Best Documentary Award

Best Documentary Award

Petition(Director's Cut)

Director: Zhao Liang

2009 | Colour | Putonghua | 315 mins

A harrowing and unimpeachable documentary about injustices in China, artist-filmmaker Zhao Liang's film chronicles, since 1996, the lives of "petitioners" who come from all over the country to the Court of the Complainants in Beijing. Their motives are simple: to right the wrongs perpetrated by corruption and political abuses. But many wait for months, or even years, to have their cases heard, with most having no hope of a redress or even an answer. This is the world premiere of a new director's cut. (15 mins intermission, Chinese subtites only for the SM screening)