Event

24 City

(Jia Zhang-ke, China, 2008, DigiBeta, 112 min)

24 City is eloquent testimony to a China that is vanishing with each swing of the wrecking ball. Blending fiction and documentary, Jia Zhang-ke puts a human face on the consequences of rapid industrial and economic growth in China. Shot in Chengdu in Sichuan province, 24 City documents the development of state-owned Factory 420 from the 1950s to the present. Once booming, it was demolished in 2007 to make room for an upscale apartment complex. Grounded by interviews with real factory workers and performances by three of the countrys most important actors (Joan Chen, Lu Liping, Zhao Tao), the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, just four days after a massive earthquake devastated parts of Chengdu.

"In 24 City you can see China repurposing what come across as very American ideas about the pursuit of happiness, success and especially money. Mr Jia is one of the most original filmmakers working today, creating movies about a country that seems like a sequel." Manohla Dargis, The New York Times