Every seventh person in the world is a Chinese farmer. Between 2002 and 2005 the filmmakers Elke Groen and Ina Ivanceaneau carried out numerous interviews in three Chinese villages documenting everyday life - without any censorship whatsoever. At the same time the inhabitants of the villages shot their own short films about their surroundings, their hopes and their dreams - short films that have become part of "Every Seventh Person". The result is an exceptional documentary film that provides insight into life in China away from the urban and industrial centres - a life between socialism and market economy in which the villages become the testing grounds for democracy and self-determination.