The Road

Production year: 2015
Country: China
Director: Zanbo Zhang
Producer: Richard Liang

In four chapters, director Zanbo Zhang documents the abuses surrounding the construction of a giant highway through Hunan province from the perspective of the local population, the construction company and the labourers.

In 2008, the Chinese government decided to invest $586 billion on infrastructure in an effort to stimulate the economy. The new highway is part of President Hu’s three-stage strategy, a process of modernisation that has been underway for some 30 years now. In reality, the project is being run by corrupt Party members, bad employers and local gangsters. Many homes belonging to local people have been damaged by explosives, and the private construction company is endlessly dragging its feet when it comes to paying its employees. Behind the scenes at the construction company, we hear their plans to deal with dissent: “If people obstruct the construction with no reason, we must strike back without mercy and arrest them if needed.”