LEADER 02347ngm a22002897a 4500005 20161125134916.0 005 hubpceu 007 v| |||||| 008 121017b########xx#|||############m|zho|| 003 hubpceuo 099 FL Record |f1864 100 Liang, Zhao, |edirector. 242 Petition - The Court of the Complainants 245 Pétition - La Cour Des Plaignants 300 DVD-ROM (124 min.) 337 Moving image 500 Verzio Film Festival Submission 520 The dysfunctional Chinese justice system allows citizens with grievances against their local governments to petition the court to clear or correct their record. Yet in order to do so, the petitioners must travel to Beijing to file paperwork and wait an indefinite period to plead their case. The large majority of petitioners are impoverished villagers who travel far to the capital and typically end up waiting desperately in decrepit shantytowns for their cases to be settled. Often they are chased and pressured to return home by thugs hired by local governments to dissuade the petitioners, lest the municipality get a bad name for corruption. Following the saga of a group of petitioners over the years of 1996 and 2008, “Petition” reveals the story of those unwilling to accept defeat. Seemingly unable to do anything but wait, the petitioners enter a strange and often terrifying zone, gradually losing touch with family and friends back home and with the cruel reality of their situation. This was filmed surreptitiously from the point of view of the petitioners, and not the justice officials, the police, or the heavies sent by the municipalities up until the petitioner's village was destroyed to make way for a new train station in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 580 Verzio Film Festival Submission 655 4 Documentary films 260 France : |bINA, |c2009. 041 zho |jeng 952 |00 |10 |40 |50 |70 |8FL |991834FL |bFL |d2016-11-25 |l0 |r2016-11-25 |w2016-11-25 |yDVD-ROM 952 |00 |10 |2ddc |40 |6FL_RECORD_1864_000000000000000 |70 |8FL |9147631FL |bFL |d2019-04-10 |l0 |oFL Record 1864 |pHU_OSA_00003526.mp4 |r2021-11-04 |w2019-04-10 |yDIGIFILM |zAccess Copy, MP4 format |cAudio Visual 920 01 yoz785Xr 966 True |bHU_OSA_00003526 |cDigitally Anywhere / With Registration