Farewell, My Nest

After a deadly fire in a Beijing migrant workers’ housing block in 2017, authorities launched sweeping safety inspections, forcibly evicting residents and demolishing homes. The filmmaker follows workers across urban villages, observing their livelihoods and reflecting on class realities under China’s household registration system.

Chen Junhua: ‘Ten years ago, the order of the city I lived in was reshaped once again. I captured everything around me with my camera. Using a panoramic approach, this film reveals the varied lives of auto mechanics, vegetable and fruit delivery drivers, photographers, children, and many others, capturing their responses to the collapse of skyscrapers and the displacement of their homes.

The threshold for using audiovisual technology is getting lower and lower, yet forgetting has become easier. Films that bear witness to social reality also seem to be becoming fewer. A decade later, I chose to present this work. For me, it is both a commemoration and a wake-up call. I hope more voices will take up the responsibility of writing history. That is what drove me to complete this film.’