|
|
|
"Der
Chinesische Markt" [German film]
(Zoran Solomun and and Vladimir Blazevski, directors)
Review by Radmila Djurica
Both directors of the documentary Der Chinesische Markt, or Chinese
Market, probably live abroad, and are originally from Yugoslavia.
It is not clear: is this a documentary about the Eastern European
black market and its business with Chinese immigrants? Or, is it
a social story about the people who are economically involved in
this market?
Chinese
Market is a documentary that follows the everyday life of Eastern
Europeans and refugees from former communist countries. These refugees
are living and working at one of the biggest Chinese markets in
Eastern Europe, in Budapest, Hungary. At this market gather people
from all over: from almost all former communist and communist countries
in the world. People coming from China, the former Yugoslavia, Eastern
Germany, Russia, etc. ... They all come here, to Budapest, Hungary,
the center of Eastern Europe, to buy goods to resell in their native
countries.
Following
the market life of these people, the viewer gets a mental picture
of the people coming to buy and sell a great variety of goods. For
example, for Yugoslavians, this Chinese Market presents one of the
only resources of cheap goods, later resold over and over on the
Yugoslav Market. For some people, the goods available at this Chinese
Market are the only ones that fit their budget. And therefore, it
represents a valuable resource for survival. It has clothing, watches,
cheap jewellery, toys, food, shoes, cameras, everything for everyday
life...at reasonable prices. The prices are affordable for people
who are out of work and short on basic life necessities.
Of
course, I'm talking about smuggling goods, waiting on the borders,
risking the loss of goods or money. The risk of getting caught on
the borders with smuggled goods coming from this market is no big
deal, because this is the only way to survive in Romania, the former
Yugoslavia, China, Bulgaria, Eastern Germany, etc....Many of them
are highly qualified teachers, professors, former directors of big
companies in Yugoslavia, journalists, editors. In general, these
are people with a high level of education and good careers behind
them, left without the possibility of a decent life in Eastern European
countries, after the civil wars and big political changes in the
past 10 years.
|