24 City is a moving portrait of mainly elderly factory workers whose lives were disrupted by a shift from northeast to southwest China in the early 80s. Against recurring images of the current factory building and grounds in process of clearance direct-to-camera interviews tell of lost family contacts and the difficulties of settling into new surroundings. Interviews with five workers are augmented by scenes of daily routine which include leisure activities. Hardships past and present contrast with commitment, loyalty and the bonds of work-relationships. Despite suspecions that such qualities have been lost in the rubble of China’s surge to prosperity, a gleam of hope remains.

It’s familiar territory for Jia, who set many of his films the Shanxi Province mining area where he was born. His depiction of problems earned him government censorship and banning orders. Films like Xiao Wu (1997), about an itinerant worker ignored by a newly-affluent former associate, depict the loss of values and a new drifting population. Jia’s 2007 film, Useless, examined contrasting lifestyles in China’s garment trade, a key element in China’s new consumer society. In 24 City his affectionate camera lingers on retired workers as they play mahjong, take part in amateur operatics, visit friends or read notices posted on doorways. Photo-like stills of individuals as well as groups are juxtaposed with scenes of empty buildings and broken windows.

The film’s atmosphere of lyrical regret derives partly from a sound track of popular music, songs, images and voiceovers which include poetry extracts. One of many many contrasting images, one sequence depicts a works choir singing the universal song of workers solidarity, 'The International', intercut with shots of the factory being demolished.

At its core, between active scenes of metal manufacturing, tours of a derelict workshops and the actual dismantling of walls and rooftops are direct-to-camera interviews with ex factory workers. Moving anecdotes include those about a home-made knife that embodied the lives of past workers, a child lost on the 15-day journey from Shenyang to Chengdu, and a boy spared by a gang of locals because Zhou En Lai had died that day. Some of the interviewees are played by famous actors, such as the veteran Lu Liping, and Zhao Tao, star of Jia’s 1997 film, The World, set in a Beijing theme park. It is this character who in recognition of her mother’s efforts, states ‘Wo shi gong ren de nu er’ – ‘I am the daughter of a worker’ and offers evidence that their values will survive into the new China.

24 City was screened in the 2008 London Film Festival