Past screening

Empire of Dust

Directed by: Bram Van Paesschen
Runtime: 1hr 17min Year: 2011
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Details

Directed by: Bram Van Paesschen
Runtime: 1hr 17min Year: 2011
Country: Belgium
Last Screened: Thu 19th Apr 2012

The Chinese march across Africa is halted in the face of local workers on a road building site in the Congo.

Lao Yan is in charge of a multi-million pound project in DR Congo, rebuilding the road connecting Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, alongside his Mandarin-speaking Congolese interpreter Eddy. They face a rocky road of Government supply failures, dodgy local company deals and cultural miscommunications at every turn, adding to the tensions in their own prickly relationship.

The result is a harsh but absurdly funny roller-coaster of confrontations and frustration, exposing the condescension of the Chinese masters towards their quietly disdainful Congolese workers.