Premiered in competition at Cannes, this feature-length documentary shot between 2014 and 2019 is the first instalment of a trilogy. Returning to themes evoked in Bitter Money, Wang Bing takes an unfiltered look at the reality of young textile workers in Zhili, often labelled China’s garment capital. With immersive hand-held camera work, the filmmaker explores the dormitories, go-between spaces, and workshops to capture the tiring and repetitive labour of workers. He also picks up their teasing, banter, disagreements that sometimes turn violent, solidarity, friendships, romances, moments of escapism, dreams, and demands. The arrangement of long takes and nuanced narrative structure gradually reveal a system that locks its subjects into a precarious existence, with limited perspectives.

With the support of the Consulat général de France à Québec and in collaboration with the Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal (FNC)

Youth (Spring)