Zhili, 150 km from Shanghai. In this city dedicated to textile manufacturing, young workers come from all the rural regions crossed by the Yangtze River. They are in their early twenties, share dormitories and snack in the corridors. They work tirelessly to be able one day to raise a child, buy a house or set up their own workshop. Between them, friendships and love affairs are made and unmade according to the seasons, bankruptcies and family pressures.
He was born in Xi’an, China, in 1967. He studied photography at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, an industrial city where, years later, he would film ‘West of the Tracks’ (2002). In April and May 2014, Wang Bing had a major show at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. In 2017 he was awarded the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for ‘Mrs. Fang’, and in 2018, ‘Dead Souls’ was selected for the out of competition segment of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2021, Le BAL in Paris mounted an exhibition entitled ‘The Walking Eye’, and the French Cinematheque presented a retrospective of his films. He presented two new films at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival: ‘Youth (Spring)’ in the Official Competition, and ‘Man in Black’ as a Special Screening.