A documentary tragicomedy about the collapse of the construction boom in China, which won the main prize of the International Film Festival in Thessalonica in 2017, tells the story of enterprising young people—real estate sellers in ghost towns.
The “Chinese economic miracle” led to a real construction boom. Entire cities which were supposed to bring the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom closer to communism were built in no time. However, the country's population, mostly peasants, refused to leave their homelands or rushed to the major cities. Therefore, there are now a lot of ghost cities in China: modern, beautiful, and uninhabited.
Realtors do their best to sell unnecessary square meters off, coming up with the most incredible ways to attract customers. The company of twenty-four-year-old Yana hires foreigners living in China as a crowd scene. For a short time this crowd creates a feeling of a cosmopolitan, prosperous region within these dead cities and half-empty houses. And once the deal is completed Yana and her expats move forward to the next project.
David Borenstein’s tragicomedy is not only and not so much about architecture as it is about the phenomenon of "selling everything"—an apartment, a house, and even the fact that you are a foreigner.
Dream Empire
Director David Borenstein. Denmark, 2016. 73 minutes.
12+