China Exclusive: Plight, sacrifice of Chinese migrant workers captured in Emmy-winning documentary
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E-mail Xinhua, October 12, 2012
BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A couple sweat for 15 hours a day in a faraway factory and visit their children just once a year, all in the hope of offering them a better life than the ones they themselves endure.
During one of their annual family reunions, the couple, Zhang Changhua and Chen Suqin, return home, only to find that their daughter has dropped out of school to become a migrant worker like them, something the mother believes has much to do with the fact that she and her husband are not around.
"Left-behind children" and other issues facing the 250 million migrant workers in China were captured in "Last Train Home," a documentary shot by Canadian-Chinese director Fan Lixin that garnered an Emmy this year.
"They have contributed the most to China's prosperity but benefited the least. This is a large group of people whose sacrifice and plight can not be ignored," Fan said in an interview with Xinhua on Thursday.
The migration of the rural workforce started in the 1980s with the beginning of China's reform and opening-up.
"The rural area is like a sponge" that is sucked dry as the prosperous economy needs great numbers of laborers to produce cheap commodities, and then it takes them back after they lose their jobs and cannot survive in cities during tough economic times, said Fan.
Alienation and conflicts among migrant families are inevitable amid the backdrop of rapid urbanization, said the director.
"This generation of migrant workers has also lost the pleasure of parenting," said the 35-year-old director.
Migrant workers' roots are in their rural land and traditions, but these roots are disappearing little by little in a fast-growing China, said Fan.
"I can't help but wonder: if these migrants lose their land and traditions, where will they go and where will they really belong," Fan said with a sigh.
Zhang Qin, the couple's daughter, resents her parents for the lack of love and dropped out of school at a young age to work in Guangzhou, deeply hurting her parents, said Fan.
The director said that Zhang Qin represents the new generation of migrant workers, about 8.4 million in number.
"'Last Train Home' tries to show the fresh image of the new generation of migrants and explore the relationship between them and the older ones," said Fan.
The new generation, aged between 16 and 32, generally receive higher education and more professional training than their parents, and they are more creative in fighting for their rights online.
A good example is a recent viral video of a female migrant worker holding a mock press conference to demand the payment of her long overdue wages.
Fan was delighted that the story told through his documentary has struck a chord with audiences both at home and abroad.
"This is the story of my real life. As a migrant worker myself, I can identify with them," netizen "Huoxingdisheng" commented on iQIYI.com, a video website in China.
In regards to the film's international release, Fan found that most foreign viewers began to reflect on their lifestyle, which features a tradition of consumerism, and realized that made-in-China products were produced at the expense of China's migrant workers.
"In this sense, people will see the inequalities in international trade between developed and developing countries," said Fan.
The film ends with a scene in which Zhang Qin and another two girls look with pride and admiration at a TV broadcast of fireworks set off during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
"However, the country's prosperity doesn't belong to them. This glamorous event is not their party," said Fan.
He said his dream is to see China's documentary films rise just like many foreign documentaries.
"I'd like to record and portray the stories of China in this era, because 'documentary' is to the country as 'photo album' is to a family," Fan said, quoting Chilean documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzman.
The documentary took the award for Best Feature Documentary and the Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting-Long Form Award, announced on Oct. 2 at the 33rd News & Documentary Emmy Awards. It is the first Chinese film to grab an Emmy in any category.
The film was released and screened internationally in 2009, and it was shown in 20 Chinese cities last year. Enditem
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