We were SMART is a documentary completed by director Li Yifan in 2020. In the documentary, Li Yifan forgoes images that can deliver a strong visual impact .He chose to let each of the former SMART kids themselves tell their experiences,how they entered the factory at the age of 12 to 15, how they struggled to live and ran into walls at every turn, what comfort and light they gained from the shell of SMART in those days of extreme loneliness, exhaustion and poverty, and what hurt and attacks they suffered from the mainstream gaze. The director also uses a lot of video shot by the workers themselves in the documentary. When the workers provide the material, they also become participants in its creation. This is not just a documentary that does justice to the SMART. More importantly, it is a reminder of the history and pain that has been erased from SMART, of the callousness, arrogance and narrow-mindedness of mainstream society for so long, and that the simplest expressions of the SMART kids are the most penetrating.