This documentary follows Xu, a migrant painter working at the largest art factory in the world in Shenzhen, China, who spends his nights meticulously reproducing Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. In the painting, he finds a mirror of his own solitude within the city’s sprawling architecture. Each evening, Xu completes the diner’s quiet figures and fluorescent interior before venturing into Shenzhen’s nocturnal landscapes—high-rises, factory dormitories, neon-lit alleys—in search of connection with fellow migrants. These encounters with solitary workers reveal moments of shared humanity and resilience. Inspired by these experiences, Xu begins creating original paintings that echo Hopper’s vision while reflecting contemporary Chinese life. The film investigates how designed environments shape social and emotional life, positioning architecture as an active force in labor, migration, and community. By bridging Hopper’s modernist imagination with Shenzhen’s built spaces, Nighthawk expands architectural discourse on isolation, creativity, and human connection in the modern city.

Adam James Smith is a filmmaker, researcher, and educator whose work investigates the intersection of architecture, migration between rural and urban spaces, and the human experience in contemporary China. When not at home in New York, he teaches at the University of Cambridge’s Visual Anthropology Lab. Trained in film at Stanford University and anthropology at the University of Cambridge, Smith has directed and coproduced feature-length documentaries including The Land of Many Palaces (2015), which explores the migration of farmers into the newly built “ghost city” of Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and Americaville (2020), on the Chinese replica of Jackson Hole, Wyoming built on the outskirts of Beijing. Smith has won awards at film festivals around the world and presented his work at institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University, University of California, Los Angeles, and Duke University. He serves as director and cinematographer on Nighthawk.