Project Detail

Shanghai Below the High Rise

Synopsis

Shanghai Below the High Rise is a cutting-edge documentary about Shanghai's 'underclass'; a group of millions made up of both impoverished local residents and migrant workers, who are all paying the ultimate price for the city's ongoing development programme in the lead-up to the 2010 World Expo.

In an attempt to get the stories of those worst affected, the film journeys into the city's poverty-stricken backstreets, uncovering a way of life that could very soon be gone from the city forever.

Among the many conflicts explored, we see a backstreet neighbourhood ravaged by an incomplete construction project; migrant workers forced into the city's 'hidden' economy; and former state employees left jobless, and with limited future prospects.

This is a Shanghai rarely seen in the West. This is a Shanghai from below the high rise.

Details

Year
2009
Type of project
Shorts
Running time
52 mins
Format
DV
Director
Simon James 1st Feature
Producer
Lucy Lu
Editor
Simon James
Screenwriter
Simon James, Lucy Lu
Director of Photography
Simon James
Sound
Simon James
Composer
Siddhartha Barnhoorn

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Shatterproof Productions

Cavendish House
369 Burnt Oak Broadway
Edgware HA8 5AW
UK

T +44 (0)7947 180 747

Sales Company

Cat&Docs

18 rue Quincampoix #133
F-75004 Paris
France

T +33 1 44 59 63 53

M +33 6 33 64 86 02

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