Private Project

Barefoot In The Rain

In this documentary, we interviewed Xiao-Ming, a man with a hat, a man from Northeast, a man from Hebei, a couple from Hubei, the artist, a man under the bridge, a young man from Gansu, a boy from Inner Mongolia, a hiring agent Mr. Wang, I-cafe Xiao-long, I-cafe Brother Ma, I-cafe staff, a garbage-collecting woman and her son, a total of 16 people who represent a broad spectrum of all domestic migrant workers（DMW）in China. The interview took place at Ma-ju-qiao in Beijing, 22 kilometers southeast of the center of Beijing from July to December 2019. The people interviewed are all short-term domestic migrant workers in Ma-ju-qiao, and many have the long experience of being a day laborer. The interview was conducted randomly on site, aiming at their life and work experiences in Ma-ju-qiao with their unfiltered and original voices being listened and documented

  • Paulita Shaw
    Director
    Inadvertently, 2018
  • Henry White
    Producer
    Inadvertently, 2018
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    雨中无鞋的人
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 31 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    40,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Paulita Shaw

Paulita Shaw (Xiao-xiao Cai) received her associated degree (3-year program) from The Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, China in 2006 with a major in preforming arts. She continued to study in the Communication University of China in Beijing, China, and obtained a bachelor degree in 2011 in broadcast hosting major. From 2011-2015, she enrolled and received a bachelor degree in the movie-directing study in Beijing Film Academy in Beijing, China.

On her career development as an acctress, she landed a major supporting role in three TV series in which she played a character of female drug dealer in a 20-episode TV series <The Red Scorpion> in 2011; a character of female police officer in a 26-episode TV series <Anti-drug Hero> in 2009 and as well as a character of young wife in a 30-episode TV series <Family, Wife and Kids> in 2014. She has served in many capacity as an executive producer, screenplay writer or production manager in four feature movies as well as a dozen short films.

In 2017, Paulita Shaw directed her first feature movie < Inadvertently >, which receives two credits: Israel Near Nazareth Festival 2018; Semi-final (with official wrath and the certificate) and
California Women’s Film Festival (2018); Selected（with official wrath）.

<Barefoot In The Rain> is the first 150-minute documentary film Paulita Shaw directs, which began shooting in the summer of 2019 and finished by the beginning of 2022. As a woman director, her focus is placed on the social and humanity theme in present-day China

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Director Statement

In the past almost half century, China has undertaken profound and all-round changes with an unprecedented scope and depth. Such an undertaking definitely serves an epic evolution of human civilization in the late 20’th and early 21’th century. In this documentary, we keep all the interviews original and unfiltered. It is our intention to listen and record comprehensively and objectively, so this documentary film can stand the test of time and be truthful and worthy from the history prospective. Considering the current situation in Beijing, the on-site filming and interviewing process was carried out often in a fluid, rushed and restrained circumstance, and my team was trying to do as much as possible to accommodate it. Also, I tried to maintain a sober and sort of “eclipsed” image for presenting this film. During the making of this film, I was most touched by the people I interviewed. Their sincere and heartfelt voices gave me the tremendous encouragement. I also hope their voices can be shared with you through this documentary.