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]
Castedit
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 factedit
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.
Releaseedit
It was released in January 2007.[1] It was aired on the British TV channel More4 in 2007.[2]
Referencesedit
^ abBradshaw, Peter (12 January 2007). "Ghosts". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
^Donaldson, Brian (9 April 2007). "Ghosts". The List. Edinburgh. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
ghosts, 2006, film, ghosts, 2006, drama, film, directed, nick, broomfield, based, 2004, morecambe, cockling, disaster, title, reference, cantonese, slang, term, gweilo, 鬼佬, meaning, ghost, used, white, people, ghostsdvd, coverdirected, bynick, broomfieldwritte. 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 GhostsDVD coverDirected byNick BroomfieldWritten byNick BroomfieldJez LewisProduced byNick BroomfieldJez LewisStarringAi Qin LinZhe WeiCinematographyMark WolfEdited byPeter ChristelisMusic byHarry EscottMolly NymanDistributed byBeyond FilmsRelease dates21 September 2006 2006 09 21 San Sebastian Film Festival 12 January 2007 2007 01 12 United Kingdom Running time96 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguagesMandarin Fuzhou dialect English Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Basis in fact 4 Release 5 References 6 External linksPlot editAi 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 editAi 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 RobertBasis in fact editThe 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 editIt was released in January 2007 1 It was aired on the British TV channel More4 in 2007 2 References edit 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 editGhosts at IMDb nbsp Ghosts at AllMovie Film review Review from openDemocracy net Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ghosts 2006 film amp oldid 1190011310, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
