Måns Månsson, Stranded in Canton, 2014. All rights reserved.Director Måns Månsson, with his co-writers Li Hongqi and George Cragg, explores Sino-African commercial ties through the life of Lebrun, a Congolese farmer who chases the dream of a more affluent life as a makeshift businessman all the way to China’s Guangzhou, only to face harsh disillusionment.
Månsson’s film Stranded in Canton addresses the sense of dissatisfaction that arises in a social context where as trade, investment and wealth are perceived to be growing, one’s humbler life no longer suffices and the fear of being excluded from the capital accumulation race kicks in.
As a tragicomedy bordering on the absurd, Stranded in Canton also explores the Sino-African culture clash without ever falling into clichés.
