Shot over a six-year period (2009-2015), mainly in the industrial heartland of southern China, the film follows labour activists as they find common grounds with workers, helping them to negotiate with local officials and factory owners over wages and working conditions while being subjected to intimidations, threats and violence. The film ends on a victorious note, documenting the celebration of a succesful strike of 2,750 workers at the Lide Shoe Factory. The euphoria, however, was short-lived: two months after Wen wrapped up filming, police began raiding Guangzhou worker centres, detaining dozens of activists. Three of them were eventually convicted for "gathering crowds to disturb social order”. Wen himself fled to Hong Kong, where he now lives, fearing repercussions over the film. For offering a glimpse of the underside of the Chinese economic miracle and the ubiquitous label that reads “made in China”, but also of the courage of those who, against all odds, stand up against its injustice, We the Workers is a vital eye-opener.
