Total Trust
Available screening types
Virtual
On-demand
In-person
Available until
Aug 01, 2038
Available in
Bahamas, Bermuda, United States of America
About the film
TOTAL TRUST is an eye-opening and deeply disturbing documentary about surveillance technology, abuse of power and censorship. Through the haunting stories of people in China who have been monitored, intimidated and even tortured, the film sparks a global debate about the dangers that Big Data and AI pose to individual freedoms. A bracing portrait of a society for whom privacy is all but extinct and a warning for democratic states employing unprecedented security tactics, TOTAL TRUST sounds an alarm about the increasing use of surveillance tools around the world. If this is the present, what does our future look like?
Genre
Social Justice
Runtime
1h 37m
Released
2023
Director
Jialing Zhang
Awards & recognition
It's All True - Int'l. Documentary Film Festival
Winner - Best Feature
CPH:DOX
Nominated - CPH:DOX
The Hague Movies that Matter Festival
Nominated - Camera Justitia Award
DOC NYC
Official Selection
Hot Docs Festival
Official Selection
Sydney Film Festival
Official Selection
Sheffield Doc Fest
Official Selection
What people are saying
‘"Highly recommended!"‘
Richard Brody
The New Yorker
‘"While it’s hardly news that most of us are under some form of surveillance any time we’re in public, the extent of Big Brother’s activities still has the capacity to astound. That’s nowhere truer than in the People’s Republic of China, whose efforts to monitor its citizens’ every action (public or otherwise) would make Orwell blush. ONE CHILD NATION co-director Jialing Zhang once again turns the camera on her home country in TOTAL TRUST, the kind of eye-opening documentary that makes you realize you know far less about its subject than you thought you did — however bad you may think China’s surveillance state is, Zhang can assure you it’s far worse."‘
Michael Nordine
‘"Her chilling, damning film, directed from outside China... with the help of dozens of anonymous local collaborators, stands as... a compelling warning of unchecked surveillance, holding an incriminating mirror to our would-be watchers."‘
Nick Bradshaw
Sight & Sound
‘"TOTAL TRUST offers a persuasive picture of this Big Brother system in action."‘
Natalia Winkelman
The New York Times
‘"After years of citizens policing one another’s mask-wearing, vaccination status, and party-throwing, it’s jarring to see how similar life in China is to life in the U.S. The Chinese government is far more organized in its control of the day-to-day than America is, but there’s something eerie about watching smiling neighbors standing in front of a private residence, refusing to allow a family to leave, as if we’re watching “Black Mirror” riff on Shirley Jackson."‘
Mark Peikert
Indiewire