HIFC Screening China Blue

Event Description:

Spread the word and come to the free screening of China Blue 7 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 1827 W. Alabama, west of Woodhead (The Havens Center). China Blue, 2006, 88 mins Directed by Micha X. Peled Saturday, March 3, 7:00pm Free and Open to the Public Houston Institute for Culture Havens Center 1827 W. Alabama Street Houston, Texas 77098 http://www.houstonculture.org/film Summary: CHINA BLUE takes us on a poignant journey inside a blue-jeans factory, where the working conditions Jasmine and her teenage friends must endure are harsh beyond imagination. They are also unlawful by international standards, and tensions in the factory are running high. So when the factory owner strikes a deal with a Western client and demands around-the-clock production to meet the deadline, a confrontation becomes inevitable. 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. Press for China Blue: "Eye opening... Peled was harassed at every turn by Chinese officials, but he managed to get this shocking film made. That's just one reason "China Blue" is worthy of praise." NEW YORK POST "What stands out is the filmmaker's remarkable level of access and the complex portrait of globalization as an intractable beast that relies on consumer complicity in viewing foreign laborers as subhuman. Buy American. " TIME OUT NEW YORK "The most heartbreaking, moving film in theaters right now is not "Babel," "Letters From Iwo Jima" or "Little Children." It is "China Blue," a documentary about sweatshop workers at a denim factory...This is an unforgettable film." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "a heartbreaking and meticulous documentary about life THE NEW YORK TIMES "The film is a unflinching indictment of globalization and the unfettered consumerism that fuels it. The cheap clothes we wear come at a high price, for real people." MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL "Ducking Chinese government watchdogs (who tried to shut him down several times), Bay Area documentarian Micha X. Peled got unprecedented access to a blue jeans factory in the southern garment-manufacturing city Shaxi thanks to its proud owner, who no doubt has come to regret his decision...It\'s a verite portrait of adolescents who are instantly recognizable, though their sweatshop environs strike us as nearly unendurable." SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN "Compelling...gives the phrase "sweatshop" a whole different perspective." MIAMI HERALD "surprisingly fair-minded....it gives its heart and soul to the girls." THE NATION "Heartbreaking yet boldly essential...fairly balanced and richly human." SEATTLE TIMES "Commendable in its fair depiction of the problems faced by the textile industry." SEATTLE PI "A shocking experience." THE L MAGAZINE "Peled’s film is a must-see - if not by the average consumer, then by politicians and U.N. officials." FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "There\'s a terrible irony, then, to the designer jeans uniformly worn by teenage laborers featured in CHINA BLUE, Micha X. Peled\'s meticulously livid expose of a sweatshop in Southern China." SF WEEKLY "The Best Documentary of Toronto 2005 Micha Peled’s China Blue, a heartbreaking, truly unforgettable cinéma-vérité" THE BOSTON PHOENIX "Pic\'s degree of access and intimacy is surprising, even more so when closing intertitles reveal Chinese authorities did try to shut down the filmmakers several times... engaging in character and narrative terms... much of China Blue is charming, because its subjects are... Micha Peled\'s docu China Blue makes a stronger case against worker exploitation than any news item could..." DAILY VARIETY ",0] ); //-->inside a blue-jeans factory." THE NEW YORK TIMES "The film is a unflinching indictment of globalization and the unfettered consumerism that fuels it. The cheap clothes we wear come at a high price, for real people." MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL "Ducking Chinese government watchdogs (who tried to shut him down several times), Bay Area documentarian Micha X. Peled got unprecedented access to a blue jeans factory in the southern garment-manufacturing city Shaxi thanks to its proud owner, who no doubt has come to regret his decision...It's a verite portrait of adolescents who are instantly recognizable, though their sweatshop environs strike us as nearly unendurable." SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN "Compelling...gives the phrase "sweatshop" a whole different perspective." MIAMI HERALD "surprisingly fair-minded....it gives its heart and soul to the girls." THE NATION "Heartbreaking yet boldly essential...fairly balanced and richly human." SEATTLE TIMES "Commendable in its fair depiction of the problems faced by the textile industry." SEATTLE PI "A shocking experience." THE L MAGAZINE "Peled’s film is a must-see - if not by the average consumer, then by politicians and U.N. officials." FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "There's a terrible irony, then, to the designer jeans uniformly worn by teenage laborers featured in CHINA BLUE, Micha X. Peled's meticulously livid expose of a sweatshop in Southern China." SF WEEKLY "The Best Documentary of Toronto 2005 Micha Peled’s China Blue, a heartbreaking, truly unforgettable cinéma-vérité" THE BOSTON PHOENIX "Pic's degree of access and intimacy is surprising, even more so when closing intertitles reveal Chinese authorities did try to shut down the filmmakers several times... engaging in character and narrative terms... much of China Blue is charming, because its subjects are... Micha Peled's docu China Blue makes a stronger case against worker exploitation than any news item could..." DAILY VARIETY

Event Sponsor:
Houston Institute for Culture

Event Contact Name:
C. Lee Taylor

Event Phone Contact Information:
713.524.1944

Event Email Address:
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Event Website:
www.houstonculture.org

Event Fee:
Free and Open to All