COMPLICIT
Winner of 8 international documentary and human rights film festival awards including the top prizes in Paris, Valencia Spain, Sardinia Italy and sold out Lincoln Center and IFC premieres in New York , COMPLICIT has been an Official Selection in over 35 film festivals. The film touches both the heart and growing global concerns about the safety of our electronic devices, smartphones in particular.
Shot below the radar in China in the midst of an unprecedented human rights crackdown, the film is a character-driven, inspiring tale of young activists facing huge odds in their effort to reform China's toxic smartphone factories.
Yi Yeting faces seemingly insurmountable challenges, battling to survive occupational leukemia, while helping 39 teenagers - workers from a smartphone factory in a similar situation, poisoned by widely used solvents benzene and n-hexane.
Connecting via the internet Yi brings his fight against benzene - from his hospital room, where he helps other workers, to Silicon Valley and the international stage, persuading Apple to ban benzene.
The audience takes an 8000-mile journey to the lush countryside where the workers come from, to the world’s mega-sized factory floors.
Ultimately an inspiring tale, COMPLICIT shows when courage and commitment meet social media there's no limit to what one can accomplish - even in authoritarian China.
A 3 min opening film "Modern Slavery and Your Devices" can accompany COMPLICIT screenings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlDNfOXBFLA&t=7s
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heather whiteDirector
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lynn zhangDirectorOne Child Nation
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christopher sewardWriterFahrenheit 911, Sicko, Fire in the Blood
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Diana HoltzbergProducerNowhere to Hide, Rumble, Mr Gaga
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Project Type:Documentary
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Runtime:1 hour 29 minutes 35 seconds
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Completion Date:March 1, 2017
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Production Budget:400,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:China, Hong Kong, United States
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Language:Chinese, English
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Shooting Format:HD
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Aspect Ratio:16.9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Official Selection Human Rights Watch Film Festivals - London, New York, Amsterdam, San DiegoLondon, New York, San Diego, Amsterdam
United Kingdom
March 10, 2017
World Premiere -
Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di NapoliNaples
Italy
November 11, 2017
Italy premiere
Special Mention Documentary Award -
TIFF /Human Rights Watch film festivalToronto
Canada
March 30, 2017
N.American premiere -
Geneva FIFDH festival forum on human rightsGeneva
Switzerland
March 17, 2017
Europe premiere -
DOXA Vancouver Documentary film festivalVancouver
Canada
May 6, 2017
Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Award -
Melbourne Documentary film festivalMelbourne
Australia
July 14, 2017
Australian premiere -
Paris Alliance Cine - Human Rights Film Festival (FIFDH)Paris
France
December 5, 2017
France
Grand Jury Prize -
International Film and Human Rights Festival of ValenciaValencia
Spain
February 15, 2018
Spain premiere
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD -
Raw Science Film FestivalSanta Barbara
United States
January 6, 2018
California premiere
Social Media Award -
Sedona International film festivalSedona
United States
March 2, 2018 -
Tel Aviv Solidarity Human Rights Film FestivalTel Aviv
Israel
April 27, 2018
Israel premiere -
Documentary Edge Film FestivalWellington
New Zealand
May 12, 2018
New Zealand
Official Selection -
Belgium Millenium Film FestivalBrussels
Belgium
March 21, 2018
Belgian premiere -
Belfast Cinemagic Film FestivalBelfast
Ireland
October 6, 2018 -
Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia May 1-5Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
May 1, 2018
Africa premiere -
Galway Film FleadhGalway Fleadh
Ireland
July 11, 2018
Ireland Premiere
Official Selection -
Friday Harbor Film FestivalFriday Harbor
United States
October 26, 2018 -
Life After Oil International Film FestivalSardinia
Italy
September 22, 2018
Sardinia premiere
Official Selection -
Seattle Social Justice Film Festival
Distribution Information
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JAVA Films, ParisCountry: WorldwideRights: All Rights
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Bullfrog Films, USA
Heather White and Lynn Zhang are both first-time filmmakers. Their 1st trailer for COMPLICIT titled, “Who Pays the Price, the Human Cost of Electronics” went viral with 1.2 million views on YouTube and over 400 news articles.
Heather White is an award-winning non-profit founder and researcher with 20 years experience in international advocacy on labor and human rights issues. An expert on supply-chain monitoring she speaks Chinese and has worked in China on and off throughout her career. She is also Founder/ former Executive Director of Verité,(www.verite.org).
The research for COMPLICIT began when Heather was a fellow at Harvard University's Edmond Safra Center for Ethics (2011-2014)
Lynn Zhang has worked as a freelance video producer for The New York Times, Center on US - China Relations, and Asia Society’s China-File and China-Green websites.
Previously she worked as a news researcher and cameraperson for TV Channel 3, Catalonia, Spain – Beijing news bureau.
Director Heather White’s Statement and History behind
COMPLICIT:
We filmed in several provinces in China, Hong Kong also in the Netherlands and US.
I hope that after viewing COMPLICIT, which provides an intimate view of the challenges posed to all us by today's technology - audiences will feel a sense of increased connection to the workers behind the devices they can’t live without, and understand there are dangers coming from the unnecessary toxins used during smartphone production.