Useless, the second feature documentary from Jia Zhangke, China’s master of social realist film, is a humanistic and meditative three-part tale about the Chinese garment industry. Opening in the textile factories of Guangdong, where workers hunch over massive machines, day in and day out, for low pay, the film then moves to Paris where fashion designer Ma Ke is unveiling her new collection of organic, handmade, haute couture designs. Running counter to the clothing industry's culture of mass production and reproduction, her new line Wu Yong, meaning ‘useless’, lends the film its title and forms the heart of the documentary. The film’s third act travels to a tailor shop in a dusty mining town in Jia’s native Shanxi, where he speaks with a traditional tailor who has abandoned his needle and thread to work as a miner. With cinematographer Yu Lik Wai’s slow and plaintive images suggesting the dehumanisation that has come with China’s industrial revolution, Useless offers a subtle yet provocative portrait of globalisation at its most human level.

Jia Zhangke (b. 1970, Shanxi) graduated from the Beijing Film Academy and, since his debut feature, Xiao Wu (1998), is widely regarded as a leading figure in Chinese cinema. Mixing fiction and documentary, his film Still Life (2006) won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival. A Touch of Sin (2013) received the award for Best Screenplay at Cannes Film Festival. Mountains May Depart (2015) and Ash Is Purest White (2018) also competed at Cannes.