Last Train Home
Lixin Fan
Each summer, Chinese towns and cities are plunged into chaos with the Chinese New Year, with millions of people trying to get back to their native villages, in the countryside where they had left their families. The Zhang, a couple of poor peasants, have been working for years in a textile factory in Guangzhou. Raised by her grandmother on the farm, their rebellious carefree elder daughter decides to drop out her studies, against her parents' expectations.
With : Zhang Changhua, Zhang Qin, Chen Suqin
Image : Lixin Fan
Editing : Mary Stephens, Lixin Fan
Music : Olivier Alary
Image : Lixin Fan
Editing : Mary Stephens, Lixin Fan
Music : Olivier Alary
Production : EyeSteelfilm
Distribution: CatnDocs
Distribution: CatnDocs
Documentary filmmaker Lixin Fan followed the Zhangs for three years, and gives a moving ortrait of this family which is torn apart by the changes in a country whose booming economy is largely based on exploiting the vast population of cheap labour. Sacrificing the poor for GDP growth, the country runs the risk of separating millions of families and leaving their children uneducated. Last Train Home examines not only the fate of the individual in this chaotic social evolution, but also the country's loss and gain in a race to be the world's next super power.