Ghosts

First broadcast on More4 April 2007.
Nick Broomfield's second feature film, based on the tragic events in Morecambe in 2004 when 23 illegal Chinese immigrants died.

The tragedy highlights the reality of life for illegal workers in the UK: the work they do and conditions they live in.

The shoot was very low budget with just a small crew of five. Nick chose not to cast actors, instead using former illegal immigrants who brought their own experiences to the film, giving it an almost documentary feel in parts. [Read full review on the C4 Film site]

Interview with Nick Broomfield (March 2007)

Why did you tell this story?
I felt more like I couldn't not tell it, and I'd been thinking for some time of making a film about modern slavery. I met Hsiao-Hung Pai who wrote a series of articles in the Guardian that were the basis to the film and he persuaded me to do it. I wasn't that keen at first, partly because I'd never made a film in a foreign language… but it worked much better than I’d expected.

We went to Liverpool together and met lots of people living in much worse conditions than are shown in the film – it’s a very difficult life for them, cut off from their families back in China and also from the people of Liverpool because they find it so hard to learn English.