ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nanfu Wang - Documentary filmmaker
Nanfu Wang uncovers untold stories about human rights in China.

Why you should listen

Nanfu Wang's Peabody Award-winning documentary, Hooligan Sparrow -- which follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan as she faces government surveillance and harassment after advocating for sexually abused schoolgirls -- was shortlisted for a 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. She also directed and produced I Am Another You, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and her latest film, One Child Nation, which explores the history of China's birth policy and its profound effects on generations of Chinese parents and children. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Originally from a remote village in China, Wang overcame poverty and a lack of access to formal education en route to earning three master's degrees from Shanghai University, Ohio University and New York University. She teaches editing at the School of Visual Arts as well as cinematography at New York University.

More profile about the speaker
Nanfu Wang | Speaker | TED.com
TED2019

Nanfu Wang: What it was like to grow up under China's one-child policy

Nanfu Wang: Como foi crescer sob a política chinesa do filho único

Filmed:
2,722,175 views

A política chinesa do filho único terminou em 2015, mas estamos apenas começando a entender como foi viver sob esse programa, diz a TED Fellow e documentarista Nanfu Wang. Com imagens do seu filme "One Child Nation", ela compartilha histórias que revelam as complexas consequências dessa política e expõe o poder assustador da propaganda.
- Documentary filmmaker
Nanfu Wang uncovers untold stories about human rights in China. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
My name is Nanfu.
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Meu nome é Nanfu.
00:15
In Chinese, "nan" means "man."
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Em chinês, "nan" significa "homem",
00:18
And "fu" means "pillar."
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e "fu" significa "pilar".
00:21
My family had hoped for a boy,
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Minha família torcia por um menino,
00:23
who would grow up
to be the pillar of the family.
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que cresceria para ser o pilar da família.
00:27
And when I turned out to be a girl,
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Mas, quando nasceu uma menina,
00:29
they named me Nanfu anyway.
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me deram o nome de Nanfu assim mesmo.
00:31
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:33
I was born in 1985,
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Nasci em 1985,
00:35
six years before China announced
its one-child policy.
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seis anos antes de a China
estabelecer a política do filho único.
00:40
Right after I was born,
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Logo depois do meu nascimento,
00:43
the local officials came
and ordered my mom to be sterilized.
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as autoridades locais ordenaram
que minha mãe fosse esterilizada.
00:48
My grandpa stood up to the officials,
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Meu avô enfrentou as autoridades,
00:51
because he wanted a grandson
to carry on the family name.
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pois ele queria um neto
para carregar o nome da família.
00:55
Eventually, my parents were allowed
to have a second child,
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E meus pais acabaram conseguindo
ter um segundo filho,
01:00
but they had to wait for five years
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mas tiveram de esperar cinco anos
01:02
and pay a substantial fine.
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e pagar uma multa considerável.
01:05
Growing up, my brother and I
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Meu irmão e eu crescemos
01:08
were surrounded by children
from one-child families.
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cercados por crianças oriundas
de famílias de filhos únicos.
01:13
I remember feeling a sense of shame
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Eu me lembro de sentir vergonha
01:16
because I had a younger brother.
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por ter um irmão mais novo.
01:19
I felt like our family did something wrong
for having two children.
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Sentia que minha família tinha feito
algo errado por ter tido dois filhos.
01:24
At the time, I didn't question
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Na época, não questionei de onde vinha
esse sentimento de vergonha e culpa.
01:25
where this sense of shame
and guilt came from.
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01:31
A year and a half ago,
I had my own first child.
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Um ano e meio atrás,
tive meu primeiro filho.
01:34
It was the best thing
that ever happened in my life.
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Foi a melhor coisa
que já me aconteceu na vida.
01:38
Becoming a mother
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Tornar-me mãe
01:39
gave me a totally new perspective
on my own childhood,
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me deu uma perspectiva
totalmente nova sobre minha infância,
01:43
and it brought back
my memories of early life in China.
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e trouxe de volta memórias
do meu passado na China.
01:49
For the past three decades,
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Nas últimas três décadas,
01:51
everyone in my family had to apply
for a permission from the government
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todos em minha família tiveram
de pedir permissão do governo
01:56
to have a child.
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para ter um filho.
01:58
And I wondered
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E fiquei pensando como foi viver
sob a política do filho único.
01:59
what it was like for people
who lived under the one-child policy.
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02:04
So I decided to make
a documentary about it.
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Então decidi fazer
um documentário sobre o assunto.
02:08
One of the people I interviewed
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Uma das pessoas que entrevistei
02:10
was the midwife who delivered
all of the babies born in my village,
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foi uma parteira que tinha feito o parto
de todos os bebês da minha vila,
02:16
including myself.
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inclusive o meu, quando nasci.
02:18
She was 84 years old
when I interviewed her.
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Ela tinha 84 anos quando a entrevistei.
02:22
I asked her,
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Perguntei a ela:
02:24
"Do you remember how many babies
you delivered throughout your career?"
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"Você se lembra de quantos partos fez
ao longo de sua carreira?"
02:28
She didn't have a number for deliveries.
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Ela não soube dizer o número.
02:31
She said she had performed
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Mas me contou que tinha feito
02:34
60,000 forced abortions
and sterilizations.
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60 mil abortos forçados e esterilizações.
02:40
Sometimes, she said,
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E disse que, de vez em quando,
02:43
a late-term fetus
would survive an abortion,
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um feto mais maduro sobrevivia ao aborto,
02:46
and she would kill the baby
after delivering it.
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e ela matava o bebê após o procedimento.
02:49
She remembered how her hands would tremble
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Ela se lembrava de como suas mãos tremiam
02:53
as she did the work.
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enquanto ela fazia o trabalho.
02:55
Her story shocked me.
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Sua história me chocou.
02:57
When I set out to make the film,
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Quando decidi fazer o filme,
03:00
I expected it would be a simple story
of perpetrators and victims.
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eu esperava que fosse uma história
simples de vítimas e algozes.
03:04
People who carried out the policy
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As pessoas que executavam essa política
03:06
and people who are living
with the consequences.
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e as pessoas que viviam
com as consequências dela.
03:09
But that wasn't what I saw.
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Mas não foi o que vi.
03:12
As I was finishing
my interview with the midwife,
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No final da entrevista com a parteira,
03:15
I noticed an area in her house
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notei um canto na casa dela
03:17
that was decorated
with elaborate homemade flags.
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decorado com primorosas
bandeiras artesanais.
03:21
And each flag has a picture
of a baby on it.
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E cada bandeira tinha a foto de um bebê.
03:26
These were flags
that were sent by families
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Aquelas bandeiras lhe haviam sido
dadas por famílias
03:29
whom she helped treat
their infertility problems.
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com problemas de fertilidade
que ela tinha ajudado a tratar.
03:33
She explained that she had had enough
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Ela explicou que havia se cansado
03:36
of performing abortions
and sterilizations --
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de fazer abortos e esterilizações,
03:38
that the only work she did now
was to help families have babies.
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e que o único trabalho que fazia agora
era ajudar as famílias a ter filhos.
03:44
She said she was full of guilt
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Me disse que vivia cheia de culpa
03:47
for carrying out the one-child policy,
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por ter executado
a política do filho único,
03:50
and she hoped that by helping
families have babies,
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e esperava que, ajudando
as famílias a terem filhos,
03:53
she could counteract
what she did in the past.
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poderia contrabalançar
o que tinha feito no passado.
03:57
It became clear to me
she, too, was a victim of the policy.
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Ficou claro pra mim que ela também
era uma vítima dessa política.
04:02
Every voice was telling her
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Todos lhe diziam
04:05
that what she did was right
and necessary for China's survival.
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que ela tinha feito o certo e necessário
para a sobrevivência da China.
04:10
And she did what she thought
was right for her country.
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E ela fez o que considerava
ser o certo para o país.
04:14
I know how strong that message was.
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Sei bem como essa mensagem era forte.
04:17
It was everywhere
around myself when I grew up.
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Ela estava por toda parte
quando eu era criança.
04:20
It was printed on matches,
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Estava impressa em caixas de fósforos,
04:23
playing cards,
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nos baralhos,
04:24
textbooks, posters.
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livros didáticos, cartazes...
A propaganda enaltecendo a política
do filho único estava em todo lugar.
04:27
The propaganda praising
the one-child policy
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04:29
was everywhere around us.
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[Quem se recusar
a ser esterilizado será preso.]
04:30
[Anyone who refuses to sterilize
will be arrested.]
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Assim como as ameaças
contra quem desobedecesse a ela.
04:33
And so were the threats
against disobeying it.
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04:35
The message seeped into our minds
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A mensagem se infiltrava em nossa mente,
04:38
so much so that I grew up
feeling embarrassed
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a ponto de eu crescer sentindo vergonha
04:41
for having a younger brother.
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por ter um irmão mais novo.
04:45
With each person I filmed,
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Em cada pessoa que filmei,
04:49
I saw how their minds and hearts
can be influenced by the propaganda,
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vi como a mente e o coração
podem ser influenciados pela propaganda
04:55
and how their willingness
to make sacrifices for the greater good
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e como o desejo de fazer
sacrifícios pelo bem maior
05:00
can be twisted into something
very dark and tragic.
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pode ser destorcido em algo
muito obscuro e trágico.
05:04
China is not the only place
where this happens.
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A China não é o único lugar
onde isso acontece.
05:08
There is no country on earth
where propaganda isn't present.
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Não existe país no mundo onde
não haja esse tipo de propaganda.
05:14
And in societies that are supposed to be
more open and free than China,
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E, em sociedades supostamente
mais abertas do que a China,
05:18
it can be even harder to recognize
what propaganda looks like.
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pode ser até mais difícil reconhecer
como se dá a propaganda.
05:23
It hides in plain sight as news reports,
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Ela se esconde à nossa frente
na forma de notícias,
05:27
TV commercials, political campaigning
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comerciais de TV, campanha política
05:31
and in our social media feeds.
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e no "feed" de nossas mídias sociais.
05:34
It works to change our minds
without our knowledge.
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Ela manipula para mudar nossa mente
sem nosso conhecimento.
05:40
Every society is vulnerable
to accepting propaganda as truth,
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Toda sociedade é vulnerável
a aceitar a propaganda como verdade,
05:45
and no society where propaganda
replaces the truth
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mas nenhuma sociedade
em que a propaganda substitua a verdade
05:48
can be truly free.
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pode ser verdadeiramente livre.
05:50
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
05:51
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Raissa Mendes
Reviewed by Maricene Crus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nanfu Wang - Documentary filmmaker
Nanfu Wang uncovers untold stories about human rights in China.

Why you should listen

Nanfu Wang's Peabody Award-winning documentary, Hooligan Sparrow -- which follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan as she faces government surveillance and harassment after advocating for sexually abused schoolgirls -- was shortlisted for a 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. She also directed and produced I Am Another You, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and her latest film, One Child Nation, which explores the history of China's birth policy and its profound effects on generations of Chinese parents and children. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Originally from a remote village in China, Wang overcame poverty and a lack of access to formal education en route to earning three master's degrees from Shanghai University, Ohio University and New York University. She teaches editing at the School of Visual Arts as well as cinematography at New York University.

More profile about the speaker
Nanfu Wang | Speaker | TED.com