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Event Details
May 13, 2011
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The Smithsonian
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Room 3111
1100 Jefferson Drive, S.W.
Metro: Smithsonian (Blue/Orange Lines)

Washington, DC
United States

Screening - Washington, DC

Screening: The Last Train Home

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Each year in China more than 130 million migrant workers travel home for the New Year's holiday—the one time they’ll reunite with family all year. The mass exodus constitutes the world’s largest human migration. Amid this chaos, director Lixin Fan focuses on one couple, Changhua and Sugin Zhang, who embark upon a two-day journey to see their children.

The Zhangs left their rural village for factory jobs when their children were just infants. Now a teenager, daughter Qin resents their continual absence. Yearning for her own freedom, she quits school to work in a factory herself. Her parents, who see education as their children’s one hope, are devastated. Grand Jury Prize, Outstanding Documentary Feature, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2010; Feature-Length Documentary Award, IDFA 2009; Official Selection, Sundance 2010.