Movies That Matter On Tour: Total Trust

On Tour is a spin-off of the Movies that Matter Festival. Each year, they select eight great festival titles that they aim to offer a wide platform throughout the country. In cooperation with (currently) seventeen film theatres and local volunteer groups, they screen a film or documentary that matters, every month from October to May. The screenings are accompanied by in-depth programmes and guest speakers arranged by local groups. In this way, dialogue and broadening perspectives in local contexts is encouraged.

Total Trust takes a visceral look at digital control in China where unprecedented levels of state surveillance prevail through trust, fear, obedience and resistance. It aims to explore the changes of social behaviors caused by an all-seeing society and finds its lasting power in the people who are fighting against the abuse of state power.

In recent years, the Chinese government has felt its control threatened as activism and public outrage increase over a slowing economy and growing social issues. To counteract these events, China has started extending a sophisticated digital system across the country. Aimed at tracking and monitoring citizens, collecting, analyzing their data and categorizing behaviors as either punishable or commendable, this system hopes to predict political resistance within society before it happens. And since COVID the pandemic is abused to install a gapless digital control net. The citizens are monitored 24/7 as never imagined before.

We learn how this complex digital monitoring works through the people living under this surveillance – from ordinary people to people who have been particularly targeted by the government because of their critical thinking. Like lawyers and journalists.

Trailer Available Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7CVl9IjIh8

DIRECTOR – Jialing Zhang

TYPE – Documentary

COUNTRY – China

YEAR – 2023

DURATION – 97 minutes

SPOKEN LANGUAGE – Chinese (Mandarin)

SUBTITLES – EN / NL