One Child Nation

One Child Nation is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang about the fallout of China's one-child policy that lasted from 1979 to 2015.  The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019 where it was awarded the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Award, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 9, 2019, by Amazon Studios.  It received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary. 

Production
Both directors Wang and Zhang were born under the one-child policy in China during the 1980s, but knew little of its effects as it was second nature among the country's populace.  After moving to the United States and getting pregnant with her first child in 2017, Wang returned to China in an effort to "explore the direct effects of the 'population war' on her family... acquaintances from her rural village, midwives, family planning officials, journalists and artists". 

Reception

Box office
The film opened at one theater in New York City and one in Los Angeles and grossed $22,244 in its opening weekend, with Amazon reporting "sold-out shows throughout the weekend". 

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 90 reviews, with an average rating of 8.39/10.  The site's critical consensus reads: "As illuminating as it is accessible, One Child Nation probes a painful chapter in Chinese history with piercing clarity."  Metacritic surveyed 25 critics and assigned the film an average weighted score of 85 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". 

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "a valuable record and a sober but frightening illustration of the dark side of this government-controlled experiment" and praised the editing and musical score.. Ram Venkat Srikar of Cinema Sentries called the film "an unapologetic description of the unpleasant aftermath of China's One-Child Policy". 

References

Further reading
 Media

External links

Category:2019 films
Category:American documentary films
Category:American films