Film Forum

WINNER
GRAND JURY PRIZE (International Competition)
DOC NYC 2023

For two decades, China has implemented high-tech security and surveillance to monitor its citizens. In this fascinating and chilling documentary, Jialing Zhang (co-director of ONE CHILD NATION) immerses us in this daily reality: half a billion cameras pointed at the populace, invasive neighborhood watch programs (“Sharp Eyes”), employees monitored for stress levels, and a “social credit” point system that rewards for community service and penalizes perceived societal infractions. With the assistance of dozens of anonymous locals, Zhang focuses on three courageous women fighting for civil liberties and justice, including independent journalist Sophia Xueqin Huang, one of the first Chinese reporters to investigate #MeToo accusations and subsequently arrested for “inciting subversion of state power.” A bracing portrait of a society for whom privacy is all but extinct and a warning for democracies employing surveillance tools in unprecedented ways.

With support from the Richard Brick, Geri Ashur, and Sara Bershtel Fund for Social Justice Documentaries

2023     97 MIN.     GERMANY / THE NETHERLANDS     FILM MOVEMENT     
IN MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES      

Reviews

“ABSOLUTELY VITAL. Remarkably balanced and journalistically sophisticated…[lays] bare the mechanisms of the controls of the state with a keen yet unflashy eye…With brave and open participation from all involved, this is an extraordinarily powerful set of stories that gives a far-too-rare glimpse into life under these restrictions, illustrating both the pragmatic political benefits for those in the state wishing to control behaviour, and the damaging effects on those that have the temerity to try and change the system for the better. In a land where half a billion cameras are pointed without permission, this is one camera bravely pointed by filmmakers who capture something both cautionary and extraordinarily compelling.”
– Jason Gorber, POV Magazine

“CHILLING, DAMNING…George Orwell’s all-seeing super-state looks closer than ever in this expose… a compelling warning of unchecked surveillance, holding an incriminating mirror to our would-be watchers.”
– Nick Bradshaw, Sight and Sound