When China Met Africa

Napoleon once said, “China is a sleeping giant but when she wakes she will shake the world.” Capturing this rising titan’s strides into Africa, filmmaking brothers Nick and Marc Francis (Black Gold) turn their lens on three Chinese entrepreneurs as they develop farms, build roads and bring jobs to Zambia encouraged by jovial trade minister, Felix Mutati. This triumvirate of hard working Eastern businessmen form part of the estimated million Chinese now living in Africa.

This languorous account of a new world order under construction lacks drama but provides plenty for an engaged audience to ponder over. To share in real personal dramas and witness cultures clash against a backdrop of global change is to gain a rare opportunity to watch the future taking shape. As the West’s influence falls into the shadow of an Eastern dawn, the Francis brothers offer us a unique insight into a hidden corner of the present and an insightful glimpse of an emerging world order. [Danny Scott]