Yi Jie’s uneducated parents left the area where they grew up, looking for work. They now sort and recycle plastic waste from Europe, the United States, and other parts of Asia. The family literally lives among mountains of plastic and the disgusting stench from incinerators. Nevertheless, the children always manage to find hidden treasures: a bag of balloons or magazines to cut pictures out of that they use to make stories. This gives them a glimpse of a different, much richer life, one full of opportunities they will never have.
This poignant film, in which the camera stays very close to the protagonists, needs no explanations: the images tell a universal story of social inequality.