Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

David Redmon

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

This examination of cultural and economic globalization follows the life-cycle of Mardi Gras beads from a small factory in Fuzhou, China, to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and to art galleries in New York City. |

Plot Keywords:

Mardi Gras | New York | Globalization | China | Culture Clash

Awards:

1 nomination

Runtime:

USA:72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Fuzhou, China

Trivia:

The 2006 DVD release contains post-Hurricane Katrina updates.

an eye-opening look inside a Chinese bead factory

In this documentary we meet Roger, the rich manager of a factory in China that makes beads and other trinkets sold and traded at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Roger claims the factory girls love their work and are grateful for the opportunities it provides, but interviews with four of them tell quite another story. The girls' bleak lives are shown in stark contrast to the bizarre excesses of Mardi Gras itself. Filmmaker David Redmon should be lauded for getting excellent and rare footage of everyday life inside a Chinese factory compound, and for landing a revealing on-camera interview with the head of the U.S. company that imports and sells the beads. The movie is compellingly told and clearly serves its purpose as a window into what lies behind those ubiquitous "Made in China" labels.