Eat Bitter is a character-driven vérité film, set in the Central African Republic. This is one of the poorest areas in the world that is rising from the ashes. In the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui, construction is flourishing. As in other African countries, skilled migrants from China drive this modernization. But behind this so-called progress, workers sacrifice their dignity, abuse their bodies, and spoil the environment to extract sand, an essential construction material. And this disappearing sand impels them to take ever more risks to obtain it. Through the parallel stories of Chinese immigrants and locals, the film captures the journeys of two opposed communities, cultures, and men. It chronicles how they learn to work together with the same goal in mind: to build a bank, a symbol of power and money.

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist.