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Youth (Spring)

Directed and written by Wang Bing. Produced by House of Fire (FR), Chinese Shadow (CH), Volya Films (NL), Gladys Glover (FR) and Les Film Fauves (LU)

Liming is a worker district close to Shanghai – the richest city in China. Every year, many young people leave their villages and move there. They are between 17 and 20, all from rural Yunnan province, 2,500 km west, where the Yangtze River has its source. These young Yunnaneses often live at their place of work, in dormitories, unsanitary rooms, or sometimes in small studios. Time and space to meet is missing them. So, they communicate through QQ, MSN China.

They live as adults but they are teenagers, and unstable situation, economic pressures, geographical dispersion, burn their innocence and youth. Wang Bing will spend a year with them in Lemming: at work, at home, on the Internet, every day of their professional, romantic and friendly relations. At the end of the year he will follow them in the opposite direction to their province of origin, their family to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Selected for IDFA 2023