ULTIMATE DOCS COMPETITION
CHINA A NEW OLD EMPIRE FROM IN AND OUT

SENIOR YEAR

(GAO SAN)

China, 2005, 95 min., Chinese

Director: Zhou Hao
Producer: Shen Hao
Script: Zhou Hao
Cinematography: Zhou Hao
Editing: Zhou Hao
Music: Pushu
Sound: Zhou Hao
Production company: Guangdong 21st Century Publish Ltd.
Print Source:
Zhou Hao
Room 1806 No. 289 Guangzhou Dadao
Guangzhou
P.R. China
Tel.: 86 20 873 99 9869
Fax: 86 20 873 96 070
e-mail: photozhou66@hotmail.com
www.sinoreel.com

Senior Year

Study Hard! Move Ahead! Be Patriotic! These slogans are drilled into the minds of Chinese boarding school students as they prepare for their college entrance exams. Since most of these teens come from impoverished rural areas, their tuition is paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of their peasant parents, most of whom never made it past junior high, so the pressure to succeed is stifling. To keep up their marks the students must study from dawn until dusk, waking up before the sun to memorize everything from math formulas to propagandist passages. Their desks are piled high with books from every subject and teachers roam between rows to keep these exhausted and diligent kids on task. We glimpse this hectic world through the eyes of a select group of senior students who try to assert their personalities and live out a few teenaged whims like shopping and dating in a strictly controlled environment that doesn't bolster personal space and freedom. As the battle for success rages on, this intense film provides a harrowing portrait of the new direction of Chinese education, one that aims to mass produce focused, result-oriented over-achievers.

Zhou Hao has worked as a photographer for the Photography Department of Xinhua News Agency (National News Agency of China) and the Southern Weekly (the most influential weekly newspaper). He began making documentaries in 2001 and his debut video, Hou Jie Township, won the Black Pottery Award(Best New Professional Reward)at the Yunnan Multi-culture Visual Festival. Hou Jie Township was also in the Shanghai Biennial in 2004 and the Guangzhou Triennial in 2005. His latest documentary, Senior Year, won the Humanitarian Award for Best Documentary at the Hong Kong International Festival in 2006.

Filmography:

Senior Year (2005);
Hou Jie Township (2003).

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