Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

Official selection

Family/ChildTrue StoryHuman Rights/Labor/Social

Here begins the myth of Wang Bing, the symbolic face of 21st century Asian documentary cinema. He captures the lives of Chinese laborers and their families, as they are swept up, pushed around, and cast aside by the turbulent industrial reforms that have unfolded rapidly at the turn of the new century. This is the moment Wang’s eternal subject, capturing portraits of the Chinese people, makes its debut. At the end of the 20th century, he took a small DV camera to the Tiexi district in Shenyang and spent two years with laborers. Most factories had already shut down by then. The laborers, who once numbered a million, had gradually left as the factories closed, and the last remaining workers in the district are who Wang Bing documents. Consisting of three parts titled ‘Rust,’ ‘Remnants,’ and ‘Rails,’ Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks runs 558 minutes. Now it is time to witness on screen why the film demands such a length. This is the monumental debut film by Wang Bing, who changed the course of Asian documentary cinema. *Detailed Screening Schedule Part 1-1: 11:30 ~ 13:36 (Intermission 1: 15 min) Part 1-2: 13:51 ~ 15:50 (Intermission 2: 60 min) Part 2: 16:50 ~ 19:49 (Intermission 3: 15 min) Part 3: 20:04 ~ 22:18

Programme note by KANG Sowon