Details
Renowned Chinese director Wang Bing follows the daily grind of young textile workers in small garment factories, in the town of Zhili, some 95 miles from Shanghai.
Mostly in their early twenties, they come from rural regions along the Yangtze River, to labour tirelessly at industrial sewing machines by day and sleep in sparse factory dorms at night.
Filmed over five years, in Youth (Spring) Wang intimately captures the individuality of the many, many workers, with moments of drama and joy, as well as the conveying the monotony and the ongoing churn of labour, driven by the thrum of sewing machines.
As friendships and love affairs are made and unmade, the workers bargain for better wages and face the decision of whether to stay or return to their homes.