China2008 / 52min
Director：XU,Jun
The documentary is about a group of migrant workers in Shanghai and the camera is cast upon a group living in the work shed in a university, who come from the rural areas across China.
The documentary mainly focuses on the life of two groups of migrant workers. One group is mainly middle-aged migrant workers, who simply come and work to support their families. They live a rather monotonic life in the off-work hours and walking in the university hall and watching a performance by the university students would totally make their day. But as simply as this dream seems, it is almost beyond reach since they are often rejected by the guarding students for their identity and appearance. They cannot help but angrily questions these well-educated people “do you know it is us who built this hall?”This line often shut the people up.
Another protagonist in the documentary is WANG Bing. He is only 22 but he had make a living far away from his hometown. He holds drastically different values from those middle-aged workers and goes out shopping, drinking with his friends. He is just like those white-collar salary men, always pennyless soon after he gets his monthly pay. He has a girlfriend who shares the same work shed with him, which makes his fellow migrant worked all jealous about. But nobody knows how they are no longer in love, despite his efforts to please his girlfriend. In the end, his girlfriend left Shanghai and him, but before leaving, the girl confesses her love for WANG Bing, which had puzzled WANG Bing for a long time and eventually ends nowhere.
Money and love are the two main themes that can be found everywhere in the world. Shanghai the sleepless city, attracts many people with its splendid prosperity and extravagance, just like everyone’s dreams; however, is there any superiority and inferiority between dreams? We always complain about the cruelty of life and are never satisfied with what we have today. Now, take a look at those so-called”migrant workers” who have left their hometown to work in other places. They seem to be telling us: live our life and be earnest and happy.
