China blue
(DVD)

"The shooting of this film was interrupted numerous times by the Chinese authorities. The crew was arrested and interrogated, and tapes were confiscated. Contact with Jasmine and others was terminated"-- Film ending.

Originally released: Teddy Bear Films, 2005.

Special features: additional scenes (13 min.); promotional film for Lifeng Factory created by the filmmaker (6 min.); Q & A with the director (20 min.); photo gallery; trailer; study guide, links to activist organizations and other DVD-ROM materials.

Associate producer/sound, Song Chen ; camera, Micha X. Peled ; editor, Manuel A. Tsingaris ; music, Miriam Cutler.

Examines the conditions of a factory in Shaxi, China, where mostly young women workers produce blue jeans for the western market in the age of globalization. Illuminates the economic pressures applied by Western companies and their human consequences. "'Made in China' is often written on the clothes we wear, but under which circumstances are those cheap jeans and T-shirts actually made? China Blue takes a look behind the closed factory gates and gives the anonymous workers a face. Like young Jasmine, who endlessly snips away loose threads from completed jeans destined for the Western market. She is one of 130 million Chinese farmer's children who exchanged their rural life for a job in a factory: the world's largest migration wave. Jasmine earns six cents an hour, often works seven days a week, and does not get any extra money for overtime. She shares a room with twelve other girls, and the bland food she is dished up every day is automatically deducted from her meager wages. ... What is new about China Blue is that it makes the Chinese workers the protagonists. Here, we see a factory owner talking scornfully about his laborers, and employees who have to lie about the working conditions during inspections." -- IDFA film review.

"Grade Level: 9-12, College, Adult"--Container.

Dialogues mainly in Chinese, with some English; subtitles in English.

DVD