Total Trust

Documentary film about three women and their families who resist state surveillance and social control of the population in China. Whether through digital technologies, anticipatory self-censorship, or everyday spying on one's neighbors, surveillance in China is becoming more pervasive and increasingly affects ordinary citizens. As a result, the social and political behavior of the Chinese is changing in a creeping process. In her film, Chinese filmmaker Jialing Zhang, who lives in the U.S., provides a rare glimpse into China's interior and the everyday life of its people, which is marked not least by state and mutual surveillance, (self-)censorship, and abuse of power at various levels. At the same time, the film raises fundamental questions about how to deal with new surveillance technologies that have implications far beyond China.   

For their own safety, some of the Chinese participants in the film remain anonymous and are identified only by pseudonyms in the credits.