CPH:DOX 2025 - Youth (Hard Times) / Qingchun: Ku

There is plenty of drama and conflict in ‘Youth (Hard Times)’, but it could hardly be otherwise when you gather around 300,000 mostly young people in one place - the huge complex of textile factories located in Zhili in northern China. Most are migrants from the provinces, and from their seats behind the sewing machines, an epic drama of small and large clashes unfolds. Times are tough and anger is sometimes directed at the factory owners in Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing's feature film, shot over five years between 2015 and 2019. The film is the second and independent part of Wang's ‘Youth’ trilogy, which started with ‘Youth (Spring)’, which screened at last year's CPH:DOX.  The third and final part of the trilogy will also be screened at this year's festival.