Along the Railway  - Sun 29 Sept 3.40
- Dir: Du Haibin China 2000 colour doc /video 125 min
Train stations are sites for homecoming and happy reunions, or the starting point for new adventures. However, for the vagabonds squatting near Baoji Railway in Shaanxi Province, it’s just a platform of broken dramas. They come from as far north as Xining, and as extreme south as Chengdu. The youngest is only nine. Some, still in their teens, have been languishing there for years, eking out a living by begging or stealing. Each has a sad story to tell: of family, employer or institutional abuse. Du Haibin’s objective camera is a most effective tool for illiciting our empathy for these ticketless travellers in life, who still cling to the hope of going home one day.
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