China Blue

Synopsis

CHINA BLUE explores globalization labor issues in a very personal way by following village girls as they find work in a jeans factory in the big city, and their boss as he maneuvers himself into the global market place. Shot clandestinely in China, under difficult conditions, this is a deep-access account of what both China and the international retail companies don’t want us to see – how the clothes we buy are actually made.

China Blue takes us inside a blue-jeans factory, where two teenage girls, Jasmine and Orchid, are trying to survive the harsh working environment.  But when the factory owner agrees to a deal with his Western client that forces his teenage workers to work around the clock, a confrontation becomes inevitable.

Credits

ITVS- Independent Lens/Teddy Bear Films

Produced and Directed by Micha X. Peled

Edited by Manuel Tsingaris

Original Score by Miriam Cutler

Awards & Festivals

World Premier Toronto Film Festival, September 2005

Broadcast Premier on Independent Lens

Winner, Amensty International Human Rights Award, IDFA (Europe's premier documentary film festival*

Winner, Amnesty International-DOEN Award, IDFA 2005

Selected, Best Documentary on Human Rights, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, 2005

Winner, Audience Award, PBS/Independent Lens

Winner, Cine Golden Eagle Award

*IDFA, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a box set of 20 award-winning films, with China Blue in the line-up. The set was released at the 2007 festival.

      

Reviews

"A heartbreaking and meticulous documentary about life inside a blue-jeans factory in China… the film develops a natural dramatic structure that’s profoundly affecting. Mr. Peled doesn’t just record the girls’ indignities, he listens to their dreams." –Jeanette Catsoulis, ~ The New York Times

“The most heartbreaking, moving film in theaters right now is not “Babel,” “Letters From Iwo Jima” or “Little Children.” It is China Blue… This is an unforgettable film. ~ Allen Johnson, The San Francisco Chronicle

“The tacit fury of China Blue...” ~ Richard Corliss, Time Magazine