Ghosts (2006 film)
Ghosts | |
---|---|
Directed by | Nick Broomfield |
Written by | Nick Broomfield Jez Lewis |
Produced by | Nick Broomfield Jez Lewis |
Starring | Ai Qin Lin Zhe Wei |
Cinematography | Mark Wolf |
Edited by | Peter Christelis |
Music by | Harry Escott Molly Nyman |
Distributed by | Beyond Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Languages | Mandarin, Fuzhou dialect, English |
Ghosts is a 2006 drama film directed by
Plot
Ai Qin is an illegal Chinese immigrant to the United Kingdom. She comes from Fuzhou, China, where there the only work is badly paid agricultural labour, and even this is in short supply. Ai Qin has a son but her husband is not seen (it is later revealed that he left her for another woman). The family have some awareness of the dangers of leaving for a foreign country, and can keep in touch using mobile phones, but they have no control once Ai Qin puts herself in the hands of a "snakehead" gang who, for a deposit of $5,000 (and the obligation to pay off the loan of another $20,000), will smuggle her to Europe.
The film follows her from China to the United Kingdom where she gets a job in a meat-packing factory. It asserts that the UK's food industry is heavily dependent on underpaid, exploited migrant labour. "Massage" (i.e. sex work) is offered as a better paid alternative, but she resists this. She finds herself dependent on a "
The film begins and ends with scenes recreating the
Cast
- Ai Qin Lin as Ai Qin
- Zhan Yu as Mr. Lin
- Zhe Wei as Xiao Li
- Man Qin Wei as Chiao
- Yong Aing Zhai
- Devi Zhu
- Shaun Gallagher as Robert
Basis in fact
The
Release
It was released in January 2007.[1] It was aired on the British TV channel More4 in 2007.[2]
References
External links
- Ghosts at IMDb
- Ghosts at AllMovie
- Film review
- Review from openDemocracy.net