A special free screening of Nick Broomfield’s powerful, highly acclaimed 2006 drama Ghosts accompanied by a Skype interview with the director, presented in collaboration with Unchosen. Unchosen seeks to raise awareness about human trafficking through the medium of film and aims to make people aware of how trafficking impacts all our lives, and to give them the information they need to make a difference. Ghosts was inspired by the Morecambe Bay tragedy of 2004, when Chinese cockle-pickers found themselves trapped by the incoming tide.
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I was researching the topic of modern slavery because there are in fact more than 12 million modern slaves today, according to UN figures. I met Zhou Lan, a woman of 30, who had come to England as an illegal immigrant after her husband had died in order to support her child back in China. Zhou Lan was an amazing cook. She had run a big restaurant back in China, and the kitchen in the slum that they were living in in Liverpool was spotless. She shared a bedroom with 5 other Chinese, all of whom had pictures of families by their beds, alongside their toothbrushes. Zhou Lan would burst into tears whenever she talked about her son who she feared she would never see again. She became the basis for the character which Ai Qin played. I met Ai Qin through the Chinese church in London. Ai Qin too had a son in China, and had been smuggled to England in the backs of trucks and worked as an illegal immigrant for many years. She had not seen her son for 5 years and feared she would never again see China. One of the major obstacles was getting research material on the supermarkets and the lives of the immigrants. In order to get information I worked undercover alongside Ai Qin… A team of Chinese students also worked undercover gathering information for the film. This film was made entirely with nonactors but with people who had had similar experiences.
Nick Broomfield, Director
Please note – this is a free event, but in response to high audience demand and limited seating capacity, we are issuing tickets. To reserve tickets, please contact Box Office on 0113 224 3801 or in person at the Carriageworks on Millennium Square.
BBFC Cert 15.
