Little People Big Dream

Since it opened in 2009, Dwarf Empire has known its share of controversy. The Yunnan-located theme park features attractions and performances staffed by people with dwarfism, leading to charges that the park is a human zoo or that it isolates dwarves from society. Fascinated and disturbed by the subject, director Mak CK spent a year at the theme park observing the workers' daily lives and coming to understand their reasons for working at the park - or for leaving it. In the process, Mak created a compelling document that he calls "both heartbreaking and inspiring," which touches upon complex social issues in China and challenges the audience to take its own moral stand.