TOTAL TRUST, From Sundance Grand Jury Winner Jialing Zhang, Is The First Major Doc On The Chinese Surveillance State

The documentary is premiering theatrically December 8.

By: Nov. 07, 2023
TOTAL TRUST, From Sundance Grand Jury Winner Jialing Zhang, Is The First Major Doc On The Chinese Surveillance State
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

For two decades, China has implemented cutting-edge security and surveillance to monitor its citizens. In this fascinating and chilling documentary, Jialing Zhang (co-director of ONE CHILD NATION) immerses us in this daily reality: half a billion cameras pointed at the populace, invasive neighborhood watch programs (“Sharp Eyes”), employees monitored for stress levels, and a “social credit” point system that rewards for community service and penalizes perceived societal infractions.

With the assistance of dozens of anonymous locals, Zhang focuses on three courageous women fighting for civil liberties and justice, including independent journalist Sophia Xueqin Huang, one of the first Chinese reporters to investigate #MeToo accusations and subsequently arrested for “inciting subversion of state power.” A bracing portrait of a society for whom privacy is all but extinct and a warning for democracies employing surveillance tools in unprecedented ways.

Zhang is an Emmy-Award nominated independent Chinese filmmaker based in the U.S. She produced IN THE SAME BREATH in 2021 (Oscar shortlisted); and co-directed/produced the 2019 Film Forum premiere, ONE CHILD NATION (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, Oscar shortlisted). Zhang was nominated for two PGA Awards for Outstanding Producer of Documentary and a DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary. She won a Ridenhour documentary Prize in 2020, a duPont-Columbia Award, and a Peabody Award in 2022.

TOTAL TRUST had its world premiere at the 2023 CPH:DOX, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival and will have its US premiere at DOC NYC on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 6:00 PM. (NOTE: A limited number of tickets to this public screening may be available to press; send requests to mkrause@foundrycomm.com.)

About Film Movement

Founded in 2002, Film Movement is a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide. Film Movement's theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Lee Isaac Chung, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent.

In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Ang Lee, Eric Rohmer, Luchino Visconti, Stanley Kwan, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, KING Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Ettore Scola. 


Play Broadway Games

The Broadway Match-UpTest and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia? The Broadway ScramblePlay the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
Tony Awards TriviaHow well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends. Broadway World GameCan you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!

 



Videos