Empire of Dust

If ever there were a film made about irreconcilable cultural differences this it is. The two main people of the documentary are Lao Yang, the procurement manager, and Eddy, the interpreter, both working for the Chinese contracting firm tasked with laying a new road between two Congolese towns. Lao Yang is constantly under pressure to perform the most simple tasks: buy gravel for the road-side outflow pipes; buy chickens for their meals, but every attempt is hampered by the casual corruption and inadequacy of the sub-Saharan African way of life. Eddy, very much patriotic and protective of his fellow Congolese, fails to convince Lao Yang while he makes even more excuses for failure than the Africans Lau Yang is dealing with via his interpreting.

While the Chinese contractors are bashing their heads against brick walls in frustration, the Congolese seem blissfully content and unconcerned, as if the Chinese presence means nothing to them, improved infrastructure or not. Lao Yang himself acts as the film's main outlet for the Chinese combined frustration and fascination with the failures of Africa to come to terms with change for the better.

Ultimately Lau Yang has to vent his spleen with Eddy being the only viable target (as he is the only man who is able to understand Mandarin), yet Eddy refuses to accept any of Lao Yangs apparently viable and sensible complaints.

The film is a fascinating spectacle of sheer contrasts, not just of culture, but of mentality: the Chinese who organise, plan and order, and the Africans who live entirely for the moment. Unless you are as patriotic and apologetic as Eddy, you are likely to side with poor old Lao Yang; his final assessment is damning.

Empire of Dust gives a rare glance into China-subsidised infrastructure construction in In the Katanga/Copperbelt region of the southeast DRC. Primarily, the movie is rather slow, giving us glimpses of the life at and around the construction site including various discussions about stone. This does give way to some dialogue showing the challenges of cooperation between the local workers and foreign project leaders. From time to time, the film lets us join friendly conversations between colleagues, exposing the cultural superiority the Chinese feel in their work ethic, while the Congolese seem to have a more colourful life.