UIS Political Art and the Public Sphere series to screen and discuss the film "Ghosts"

WHAT: The Political Art and the Public Sphere (PAPS) series at the University of Illinois Springfield presents a screening and discussion of the film Ghosts by filmmaker Nick Broomfield. Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky, UIS associate professor of Political Philosophy will moderate the event.

WHEN: Monday, November 10, 2014 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Brookens Auditorium on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS

DETAILS: Ghosts tells the story of Ai Qin, a young Chinese girl from Fujian, China, who borrows $25,000 to pay to be smuggled into the United Kingdom illegally so she can support her son and family back home. Once in the U.K., she becomes one of 3 million migrant workers who are the bedrock of the country’s food supply chain, construction, and hospitality industries. She lives with eleven other Chinese in a two-bedroom suburban house. With illegally forged work permits, they work in factories preparing food for British supermarkets. In their search for better paying jobs to repay their debts, they end up in Morecambe Bay at night. On February 5, 2004, twenty three Chinese immigrant workers drowned in Morecambe.

Ai Qin and the other main characters are played by Chinese former illegal immigrants who have drawn on their life experiences to give passionate and authentic performances. The director, Nick Broomfield, creates a grippingly compelling film that will challenge your views on the entire migrant population, and have you thinking about slavery in the 21st century.

The Fall 2014 Political Art and the Public Sphere series focuses on exploring typically unseen sides of work in the world. The theme of the series is “The Invisible Politics of Work”. PAPS events are included in the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speaker Series. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Gilman-Opalsky at 217/206-8328 or email rgilm3@uis.edu.