小小世界

The fairy costume hanging off Jian Quan is at least two or three sizes too big for him. As he strolls amongst the oversized toadstools between shows, the reality of “Dwarf Empire” in China’s Yunnan province looks bleaker, more patinated than the magic you are promised when entering the theme park. Founder Chen Mingjing talks proudly of providing little people with a safe haven from deeply entrenched social prejudices in the “outside world”. He and his team of normal sized business administrators have big plans for the future: expanding the park, recruiting more performers, and even building retirement homes. Director Mak CK (The World’s Most Fashionable Prison) casts a sensitive eye at a place designed for stares and ogling, earning the trust of four little people in particular. From their stories, we learn what it means to inhabit a different body and the resilience it takes to navigate a hostile, ableist world.