Three Days in China is a documentary by filmmaker Andrés Fraga. It follows a group of Pentagram industrial designers visiting factories in Shenzhen where the Ambessa Play DIY Flashlight is manufactured.

Pentagram partnered with Ambessa Play to design the DIY Flashlight, it is battery-free and uses a motor working as a dynamo to charge a capacitor which powers the LED lamp for around 15 minutes. With Ambessa Play’s one-to-one model, for every kit purchased a displaced child receives one for free.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2023. Pentagram partner Jon Marshall, industrial designers Vincent Fan and Amelia Kociolkowska and Ambessa Play's founder, Sara Berkai visited the factories that make the flashlight to review every component ahead of committing to mass production. The visit took place in October 2023 and the team visited eight factories over three days.

Andrés Fraga joined the team during the visit. Fraga is a Spanish photographer and filmmaker who also teaches visual communication. He has 20 years of professional experience working with magazines, newspapers, architects and manufacturers documenting the design process and final artefacts using both photography and video.

Fraga’s vision for the documentary was to create a road movie about the visit to eight factories and the conversations that happen about the product and about design in general in between the visits. His aim was to realistically depict how a design team interacts at a key moment just before a product goes into mass production, rather than only create a making-of film that shows the factories and processes. 

The film follows the three day itinerary of the team's visit:

Day 1

Assembly factory building the final product and installing it into the packaging

Electronics factory making the printed circuit boards for the LED lamp and motor

Paper pulp factory making the packaging tray 

Day 2

Printing and packaging factory making the cardboard packaging and instruction poster

Injection mould toolmaker building the metal moulds for making plastic part

Injection moulding factory, making all the plastic parts

Day 3

Metal parts factory making the spring clips for the cable connectors

Motor factory making the stepper motor that is used as a dynamo

After visiting the factories, over 40 issues were spotted and corrected and the kits shipped on time for the end of 2023.

The film would not have been possible without the generosity and openness of all the factories and every member of staff, workers and craftspeople who freely shared their knowledge and carefully explained each manufacturing process.

Film Credits

Original Idea: Jon Marshall, Andrés Fraga

Directed, Film and Edit: Andrés Fraga

Editing Consultant: Fernando Bastero

Re-recording Mixer: Tapesons

Music Curator: Luis Campos (Sinsalaudio)

Production Assistant: Maruxa García

Graphics: Matt Willey, Nick Marabella, Hunting Lian