MERRY CHRISTMAS, YIWU
Communist ideals have long lost their value in Yiwu, a city with 600 Christmas factories, in which Christmas as we know it is produced for the entire world. With rising wages, the workers in Christmas factories can now afford newest iPhones, but they still live in crowded dormitories. All migrants in their own country, nostalgic for some place far away, some miss their families left in hometowns, other miss their friends and lovers from the factories when they go home for holidays. Young generation is already tired of long factory hours, chemical fumes and glitter particles, and they do not care for their parents' wishes to get educated. Stuck in between Chinese tradition and the newly discovered Chinese dream, they want their own businesses, to be rich, to be independent, to be in love.
Cast & Crew
Director: Mladen Kovačević
Writer: Mladen Kovačević
Producers: Mario Adamson, Iva Plemić Divjak, Ruth Reid
Co-Producers: Jasmina Sijerčić, Heino Deckert, Thierry Detaille
Editor: Jelena Maksimović
Music: Olof Dreijer
Director of Photography: Marko Milovanović
Production Details
Format: Documentary
Year of production: 2020
Length: 94 min
Languages: Swedish, English
Country of origin: Sweden, Serbia, Germany, France, Belgium, Qatar
Additional Info
Produced by:
Horopter Film Production
in co-delegation with Sisyfos Film Production
Supported by:
Swedish Film Institute - Film Commissioner, Klara Grunning
Film Center Serbia
Republic of Serbia - Ministry of Culture and Media
Région Ile-de-France
Doha Film Institute
Visions Sud Est
In Association with:
Ma.ja.de, Germany
NDR in cooperation with ARTE / Ulrike Dotzer, Monika Schaefer
Bocalupo Films, France
RTBF - Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française / Isabelle Christiaens
Visible Film, Belgium
Developed as part of:
EURODOC 2017
Beldocs in Progress 2017
Docu Talents – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2017
Doc Preview Training – DOK Leipzig 2017
WEMW – Trieste Film Festival 2018
Visions Sud Est Award - Visions du Réel Focus Talk 2018
Premiere
Rotterdam International Film Festival 2020
Festivals
Rotterdam International Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival
Tempo Documentary Festival
Hot Docs Toronto
Biografilm Festival
Sarajevo Film Festival
MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival
Millennium Docs Against Gravity
Unabhängiges FilmFest Osnabrück
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Minsk International Film Festival Listapad
Doclisboa
Escales Documentaires La Rochelle
L'Alternativa - Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona
RIDM Montreal International Documentary Festival
Flahertiana International Documentary Film Festival
FIPADOC Biarritz
Prizes
Heart Of Sarajevo Award For The Best Documentary Film