Educational Media Reviews Online

The focus of this film by J.P. Sniadecki is a large urban demolition site in Chengdu, China. It follows a group of migrant laborers on the site, documenting their interactions and painting a portrait of their life as part of a team temporarily brought together to complete the clearing of materials in preparation for new development.

The first fifteen minutes quietly observes the activity of machine and human working side by side. Sniadecki uses no commentary, relying on his camera to slowly reveal the details of conditions on the site, where the men and women work with minimal equipment and safety measures. The film moves on from the work site to show the laborers in their living quarters and at meals, providing opportunities for conversation, revealing the humanity and the dynamic of the group.

Sniadecki, who made this compelling film as a PhD student at Harvard, places himself right at the fringe of the laborers’ consciousness, present enough to be drawn into conversations at times, yet seemingly invisible at other moments of complete candor. Disarmingly natural as they observe and comment on the filmmaker and his activities, these men and women go through their days, revealing the human condition that hides behind the glossy skyscrapers we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in photographs of Chinese cities.

This thought-provoking film, which won the Joris Ivens Award at Paris’ prestigious documentary film festival Cinéma du Reel, can stimulate conversation on social dynamics, urban development, labor issues, and is suitable for high school and college audiences.