Beijing Besieged by Waste
Wang Jiuliang
Release year: 2011
Run time: 86 min
Film type: Documentary
Synopsis
To many people, Beijing is a large modern city with a GDP of $10,000 per capita. It’s a city rich in history and culture, with clean streets and scenic parks. But is it really as beautiful as it appears? Where does all the waste generated every day by the population of over twenty million go? In October 2008, Wang Jiuliang, an independent photographer, started a two-year journey visiting nearly 500 rubbish dumps around Beijing on his motorcycle. The images and videos he took challenge the beauty of Beijing . Through his camera, Wang shows us that Beijing has become a city besieged by waste.
Director biography
Wang is considered the first independent documentary filmmaker to use his camera to raise environmental awareness in China. He works as a freelance photographer based in Beijing. From 2007 to 2008, he shot a photography series titled China’s Traditions of Worshipping Gods and Spirits. Wang has been investigating rubbish pollution in Beijing since 2008. He has shot a photography series titled Beijing Besieged by Waste, and a documentary of the same name.