Director Li Yang based ‘Blind Shaft’ on a popular novel by Liu Qingbang which tells of the harsh and dangerous conditions experienced by Chinese coal miners. Over 4000 miners died in Chinese coal mines last year.

In recent years attempts by Chinese authorities to curb fatalities have included closing down hundreds of illegal mines and imposing stiff penalties on mine owners should safety violations occur.

In the film two miners come up with a scheme to stage fatal accidents in mines and then blackmail mine owners for silence.

To research the film director Li spent over four months visiting mines in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. The film was shot on location and made largely with an amateur cast of actors. The crew shared the harsh living conditions of miners during production. Reportedly, a mine shaft the crew had shot in for 20 hours collapsed two hours after they had left.