World Premiere of 'Dying To Breathe' at Singapore International Film Festival

"Dying to Breathe", a short documentary by photographer Sim Chi Yin intimately exploring the life of former Chinese gold miner He Quangui and his struggle with silicosis, has its world premiere on Friday, November 27, at the Singapore International Film Festival.

Sim spent four years documenting He's life and produced the short film with Tan Siok Siok. He contracted silicosis, an irreversible but preventable respiratory illness caused by inhaling silica dust, while working in small, unregulated mines in Henan Province in central China. An estimated 6 million Chinese miners suffer from the debilitating disease pneumoconiosis—of which silicosis is one form.

Sim's Pulitzer Center reporting project, "China: Dying to Breathe," explores China's top occupational disease, pneumoconiosis, through the struggles of gold miners like He. The short film is the result of Sim's many hours spent with He and his family, witnessing the joys and heartache especially as He struggled with the final stages of the disease.

Sim is represented by the New York-based VII Photo Agency. Her partner in the film project is a filmmaker, entrepreneur and new media experimenter.

For more information on the film screening, visit the Singapore International Film Festival website. "Dying to Breathe" screens on the second day of the Singapore International Film Festival, which runs November 26-December 6.

"Dying to Breathe" World Premiere
Friday, November 27
7:00 pm
National Museum of Singapore Theater
93 Stamford Road
Singapore 178897