Swiss photographer Andreas Seibert accompanied Chinese illegal migrant workers (mingong) over a period of several years in order to document their lives and work. His photos are often striking portraits of people coming “from somewhere and going to nowhere”, like one migrant describes his route. He is able to locate a poignant dignity and individuality in his subjects, amidst their melancholic circumstances, a view not often revealed to the West. Some 200 million have already set out from the underdeveloped rural provinces to earn their living in the growth centres of China in search of a better life. |
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Swiss independent filmmaker Villi Hermann followed the young Swiss photographer Seibert on his journeys deep into this vast country, witnessing the difficulties and artistic ethic of his work and documenting many moving encounters with disenfranchised workers.Transcending the actuality of the problem, the film shows how, through photography, a deeper and lasting memory can be created. With its combination of photographs and HD video, which at times almost seem to compete with each other, this documentary evolves as an impressionistic diary of Villi Hermanns journeys into a China. It leaves us with many memorable, devastating and captivating scenes and unforgettable images. “The film depicts individuals, not just faces lost in a Mao-blue crowd.“ (Villi Hermann). |
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From Somewhere to Nowhere
Switzerland 2008, 86min. Video
Swiss-German, English, Mandarin. Subtitles: English
Crew
Screenplay: Eve Martin, Villi Hermann
Cinematography: Villi Hermann
Sound: Villi Hermann
Editing: Samir Samperisi
Production: Villi Hermann for Imagofilm Lugano
Director
Born in Lucerne in 1941, Villi Hermann lives now in Lugano, Switzerland. He studied at the London Film School and worked for Swiss television. He started with documentary films and often uses documentary and fiction elements in his films. Matlosa (1981) was his first fiction film, for which he is director as producer. In 1980, he founded his own production company: Imagofilm Lugano. |