Along the Railway

Banned in China, this important, patient documentary follows a year in the life of the sidings dwellers - Sheep, Sly, Lanzhong, Ironstick Li and others - who eke out a living, begging, foraging, stealing and sleeping rough near the Baoji railway station in Shaanxi province. The director has clearly won their confidence and conducts a series of extraordinary interviews that illicit a range of very moving tales revealing not only a gamut of problems - from child abuse (some are no more than 9 years old), through loss of work, to psychological illness - but also the dwellers' determined hopes and dreams.