Jilu Camp is a project-based initiative and workshop series, organized by Jilu Commune and designed to engage participants in addressing critical local issues through the medium of documentary filmmaking. 

“Jilu Camp: Workers' New Villages” focuses on the unique residential complexes built to house industrial workers in Shanghai during the mid-20th century.

Once vibrant symbols of socialist urban planning and collective living, these neighborhoods and communities now face an uncertain future.  Due to rapid urbanization, aging infrastructure, and shifting demographics, the cultural and historical significance of the Workers’ New Villages risks being erased, along with the memories and stories of the generations who called them home.

In response to this shared context, nine local filmmakers developed short documentaries exploring these neighborhoods, not just as relics of the past, but as living spaces where personal struggles, resilience, and community bonds intersect with broader patterns of neglect and displacement. Through this exploration, they ask: How do these vanishing spaces shape our subconscious understanding of history and belonging?

For more detailed information about the featured films and filmmakers, please scroll down to “Documents” below and refer to the “Program Guide.”

The screening and discussion will be held in Chinese. 

Free and open to the public. 

Space is limited. Registration is required. To register, please click on the “Register” button on the left of this page or scan the QR code below. 

This event is co-organized with Jilu Commune.

In conjunction with Vitalisms, an exhibition by CAI Zebin, CAO Xiang, CUI Jie, GAO Xiaoyi, LI Ran, XIE Lingrou, and ZHENG Zhilin.

The exhibition Vitalisms and related events are presented as the second season of the ICA's artistic research program Lightless Fires (2024–26), exploring fermentation as a figure and technique of collective memory, autonomous archiving, and writing history.