Dir: Jessica Kingdon / USA / 97mins / 2021

Tribeca Film Festival – Official Selection

Brisbane Film Festival – Official Selection

Sydney Film Festival – Official Selection

Raindance Film Festival – Official Selection

Factory workers diligently parse fabrics and prepare plastic products—like water bottles and binoculars—in clusters and in an assembly line. Men weld metal cylinders with precision, and a networking conference devotes its attention to training a predominantly female audience how to excel in business etiquette.

These and many other absorbing vignettes are what make up the central focus of Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension: an exploration of contemporary China’s identity as it relates to its vision of consumerism, innovation, and social standing.

A wonderful experience.

Melbourne Design Week Film Festival curated by Richard Sowada