An Asian Ghost Story

Blending elements of documentary, fiction and the supernatural, Bo Wang revisits memories of 20th-century Asian modernisation through the history of the wig-hair trade. Taking as its starting point the 1965 US embargo on so-called ‘communist hair’, the film traces the circulation of hair between China, Hong Kong, the United States and Europe, revealing the links between imperialism, the Cold War and capitalism. With humour and creativity, it transforms the wig into a haunted object that persists and travels, revealing the political relationships between the Asian continent and the rest of the world.