Ghosts (2006 film)

Ghosts
Ghosts
	DVD cover
Directed by	Nick Broomfield
Written by	Nick Broomfield; Jez Lewis
Produced by	Nick Broomfield; Jez Lewis
Starring	Ai Qin Lin; Zhe Wei
Cinematography	Mark Wolf
Edited by	Peter Christelis
Music by	Harry Escott; Molly Nyman
Distributed by	Beyond Films
Release dates	21 September 2006 (San Sebastián Film Festival); 12 January 2007 (United Kingdom);
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Languages	Mandarin, Fuzhou dialect, English

Ghosts is a 2006 drama film directed by Nick Broomfield, based on the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. The title is a reference to the Cantonese slang term Gweilo (鬼佬), meaning "ghost man", used for white people.

Plot

Ai Qin is an illegal Chinese immigrant to the United Kingdom. She comes from Fuzhou, China, where there the only work is badly paid agricultural labour, and even this is in short supply. Ai Qin has a son but her husband is not seen (it is later revealed that he left her for another woman). The family have some awareness of the dangers of leaving for a foreign country, and can keep in touch using mobile phones, but they have no control once Ai Qin puts herself in the hands of a "snakehead" gang who, for a deposit of $5,000 (and the obligation to pay off the loan of another $20,000), will smuggle her to Europe.

The film follows her from China to the United Kingdom where she gets a job in a meat-packing factory. It asserts that the UK's food industry is heavily dependent on underpaid, exploited migrant labour. "Massage" (i.e. sex work) is offered as a better paid alternative, but she resists this. She finds herself dependent on a "gangmaster", who, however, is only one step up himself and needs to bribe richer contractors to get her and others even badly paid work. His position and that of the group is deteriorating, and it is in some desperation that they turn to cockle-picking at Morecambe Bay.

The film begins and ends with scenes recreating the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, in which 23 illegal workers lost their lives whilst cockle-picking.^[1]

Cast

Ai Qin Lin as Ai Qin
Zhan Yu as Mr. Lin
Zhe Wei as Xiao Li
Man Qin Wei as Chiao
Yong Aing Zhai
Devi Zhu
Shaun Gallagher as Robert

Basis in fact

The 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster involved 38 individuals, of whom 23 drowned. The gangmaster got 14 years' imprisonment. His girlfriend was found guilty of immigration offences. The film shows a much smaller group, so it is not a literal retelling.

Release

It was released in January 2007.^[1] It was aired on the British TV channel More4 in 2007.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Bradshaw, Peter (12 January 2007). "Ghosts". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
^ Donaldson, Brian (9 April 2007). "Ghosts". The List. Edinburgh. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

External links

[Guardian-1] Bradshaw, Peter (12 January 2007). "Ghosts". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

[2] Donaldson, Brian (9 April 2007). "Ghosts". The List. Edinburgh. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

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