Coal miners often work under harmful conditions that expose them to respiratory diseases. (Photo : Reuters)
Chinese filmmaker Zhao Liang has made comparisons between the coal mine depicted in his documentary "Beixi Moshuo" (Behemoth) and the descriptions of hell in Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" and hopes people who see his film will understand its environmental message.
The film has been described as a look at the lives and conditions of the people who make up a human anthill of ceaseless, manual work. It depicts miners at a complex network of mines in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The documentary is competing for the main prize at the Venice Film Festival.
"My biggest hope is to convey the message that no matter where you are and what your living conditions are and where you actually live, people should be more aware of these issues and maybe lower their expectations and their desires toward life and not waste that many resources and supplies, to live more simply," said Zhao.
"I hope people get to reflect about their lives and how our lifestyles affect everything around us, including the environment," he added.
The mines, which have displaced the local herdsmen, and its miners are seen in the documentary working at all hours of the day under floodlights.
The film also shows the miners failing to cope with the workload, with some scenes of them in hospital, undergoing treatment for black lung disease that they got from breathing coal dust.
Zhao said that his film being framed as a contemporary version of Dante's descent into hell was suggested to him by the French backers of his documentary, ARTE France and the National Audiovisual Institute (INA).
"We had this connection with Dante's 'Divine Comedy' by pure chance because every time I visited the place, the location I got the idea of being down in hell and when I showed the footage to the producers they suggested I read it," said Zhao.
Zhao claims that what Dante wrote in "Inferno," the first part of the "Divine Comedy," corresponded to the experiences his documentary crew had to face when the made the film.
