Past screening

China Love

Directed by: Olivia Martin-McGuire
Runtime: 1hr 30min Year: 2018

Details

Directed by: Olivia Martin-McGuire
Runtime: 1hr 30min Year: 2018
Country: Australia
Last Screened: Thu 6th Feb 2020

Focussing on the $30 billion 'pre-wedding' photography industry, Olivia Martin-McGuire explores how China has developed from its traditional past, and how the new China Dream applies to romance.

Love is an $80 billion industry in China. It’s not just the wedding itself that brings in the money – a booming trade in pre-wedding photography places the burden on couples to spend thousands on elaborately staged photos depicting lives of luxury.

Director Olivia Martin-McGuire probes the enormous divide between the hardships of the elders who married during the cultural revolution, and their descendants. Known as the “happy” generation, the younger couples seem to have much easier lives – but appearances can be deceptive.

From the young billionaire ruthlessly running the photography empire, to the couples who struggle to live up to expectations, this is a fresh and engaging look at modern China.