Not One Less (1999)

A scene from Not One Less. [Photo/Mtime]

Director: Zhang Yimou

The film centers on a 13-year-old substitute teacher, Wei Minzhi, in the countryside during the 1990s. Wei was called to substitute for one month and was tasked with not losing any students during that period. When one of the young boys departs for the city to find work, Wei embarks on a journey to look for him.

Educational reform, the urban-rural gap and challenges to bureaucracy and authority are all addressed in the film. Non-professional actors were cast in the film, playing characters with the same names and occupations as in real life, thus blurring the line between art and reality.

Not One Less won Zhang his second Golden Lion award.