Melbourne Film / Dream Empire: on creating globalized cities in China / 13 June

13 June | Dream Empire

2016, Dir. David Borenstein, 73 mins, Chinese with English subtitles.

Yana is a 24-year-old rural migrant who recently arrived in Chongqing to pursue her “Chinese Dream.” Drawn by the easy riches of China’s historic real estate boom, she opens a foreigner rental agency designed to help real estate developers market their new developments. This business takes a dubious turn as her foreigners are increasingly used in a surreal effort to turn remote ghost towns into “globalized cities” on the days that outside investors visit. When the inevitable happens and the real estate bubble starts to pop, Yana is forced to sell her company and reassess everything she ever believed in. Filmed over several years, DREAM EMPIRE is at once a gripping personal story and rare on-the- ground chronicle of one of the most critical economic issues of our time..

Print and image courtesy of dreamempirefilm.com.

Trailer HERE

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Guest Speaker: Carolyn Whitman

Carolyn Whitzman is Professor in Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne. She is the author and lead editor of several publications namely Melbourne: What Next? A discussion on creating a better future for Melbourne. Her passion for social justice began when she was a community activist for affordable housing in Montreal Canada. From 1989 to 1999, she worked for the City of Toronto on healthy city initiatives, particularly integrated local government policy to prevent violence, which led to an international reputation in this field. Her current research interests emphasise building partnerships, policies and practices to improve urban liveability and equity, in a local, national and international context.

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Booking

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