“Consistently engaging. Like Frederick Wiseman, Wang is a lofty filmmaking doc deity who moves in mysterious, glacial ways, but one who sometimes performs miracles.” - Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter
“An immersive, 3.5-hour opus. As a standalone feature, the dense and repetitive slice-of-life offers notes on a theme, lamenting stifled promise while considering the ways such youthful vigor can withstand, overcome or wholly be crushed by the grinding gears of capitalism with Chinese characteristics.” - Ben Croll, Indiewire
"Possibly the most significant document of Chinese garment workers ever created.” - Katarina Docalovich, Paste Magazine
Acclaimed documentarian Wang Bing (THE DITCH) returns with this immersive observation of rural migrant workers in the textile manufacturing town of Zhili, outside of Shanghai. Following the workers–mostly in their 20s–over the course of five years, Wang captures their shifts of stitching and cutting, their social lives and dramas in the dormitories where they live, and their hopes for the future: better wages, child-rearing, success. With Bing’s patient camera, YOUTH provides an intimate look into the lives and interiorities of individuals who otherwise might never be known.
Awards & Nominations
Official Selection - Cannes Film Festival, New York Film Festival
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu