German efficiency and Chinese industriousness pass each other on globalization’s economic ladder in this revealing, candid and wryly humourous look at the efforts of 400 Chinese workers, supervised by 30 German foremen (‘The Shutdown Department’), to cut apart a virtually brand new coking plant so it can be rebuilt in China. While the German foremen lament the loss of jobs and fret over what they perceive as unsafe working practices, the Chinese workers struggle to support their families back home and wonder why the Germans always leave for the day when the real work is just beginning. With intimate access to an industrial marvel, and to subjects who are decidedly frank in their admonition of each other, directors Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken explore the dicey cultural dynamics between two countries facing very different futures. – adapted from Hot Docs Festival Programme.
www.losers-and-winners.net
If you can’t see this, try Mosney (Friday 5.00pm)

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