In 1994, the oil-rich city of Karamay in Northwest China was the site of a horrible fire that killed nearly 300 schoolchildren. The students were performing for state officials and were told to stand by while the officials exited first. After the fire, the story was heavily censored in the Chinese state media. To this day, the families of Karamay have not been allowed to publicly mourn their children.

In KARAMAY, filmmaker Xu Xin helps a community break the silence nearly two decades after their tragedy. The film is structured around a series of first-person accounts from families, teachers and survivors, interspersed with rare archival footage. Each narrative represents a complete and self-contained story in which the subjects recount their reaction to the carnage and how it colored their view of nation, society, education, law, party institutions and human nature. The result is "a landmark in journalistic diligence and a dedicated act of commemoration and healing" (Michael Fox, SF Weekly).

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• Top 100 Mainland Chinese Films, Time Out Shanghai 2014

• Hong Kong International Film Festival- Documentary Competition, 2010

• Documentary Film Festival China, 2010

• Locarno Film Festival - Winner, Young Jury Prize

• Vancouver International Film Festival 2010

• Moscow 2-1 Film Festival 2010

• AFI FEST - World Cinema 2010

• Asia Pacific Screen Awards - Best Documentary Nominated 2010

• MOMA Documentary Fortnight, 2011

• Cinema du Reel 2011

• Jeonju International Film Festival 2011