PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Rikun Zhu, director of the film Anni.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

An interview with Chinese filmmaker Rikun Zhu, whose documentary Anni premiered at the 2018 One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival. The film documents the struggle in the fight for human rights and democracy in China through the story of a little girl, Anni, who was forced to leave school due to her father being labeled a dissident by the Chinese government. The director tells us about the current situation in China, and whether the struggle has worsened since he made the documentary a couple of years ago. He also talks about the difficulties in making films such as these, whether he is able to screen them in his home country, and what the benefits of showing his works to audiences in other parts of the world are.

Anni: Every child has the right to education in China. But ten-year-old Anni is not allowed to go to school. Why? Her father is a dissident. Anni and her father moved to be closer to her older sister. The little girl was not in her new school long enough to get settled – the secret police took her away after three days. Her father was, as so many times before, being interrogated. The school preferred to not have anything to do with such a family, so they have refused to continue educating her. Independent Chinese director Zhu Rikun, camera in hand, follows the movement of activists who have joined forces through the Weibo social network to support Anni. Will peaceful protests in front of the school and a petition be enough to pressure the school to take her back?