2013 (65’)

USA, China

Directors: J.P. Sniadecki, Huang Xiang, Xu Ruotao

Set in the quasi-ghost town of Yumen that once thrived with oil production in China's arid northwest, Yumen is a haunting, fragmented tale of hungry souls, restless youth, a wandering artist and a lonely woman, all searching for human connection and a collective past among the town's crumbling landscape.

FESTIVALS

• Berlin IFF, Germany, 2013
• Punto de Vista IDFF, Spain, 2013
• FICUNAM, Mexico, 2013 – Special Jury Award

J.P. Sniadecki is a filmmaker, anthropologist, and professor of documentary media at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Xu Ruotao is a visual artist and film director who lives and works in Songzhuang, a growing artist village on the outskirts of the Beijing municipality. He started making films in 2000 and has produced two features, Yumen (2013) and Rumination (2009).

Huang Xiang lives and works in Songzhuang. After a performance of Jasmine Flower, he spent thirty days in jail on the orders of the Chinese authorities and his freedom to work as an artist was restricted.

Original language:
Chinese

Editors:
J.P. Sniadecki, Huang Xiang, Xu Ruotao

Cinematographers:
J.P. Sniadecki, Huang Xiang

Contact:
J.P. Sniadecki
E: jpsniadecki@gmail.com