Set in a quasi-ghost town that once thrived with oil 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 among the town's crumbling landscape. One part "ruin porn", one part "ghost story”, and entirely shot on 16mm, the film brings together performance art, narrative gesture, and social realism not only to play with convention and defy genre, but also to pay homage to a disappearing life-world and a fading medium.
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Cast
8 people
J.P. Sniadecki Director · Xu Ruotao Director Huang Xiang Director
United States release March 7, 2015 · Produced in China · Production Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab
Production
SEL
Production
Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab
Production
China
Produced in
Languages
Original title
玉门
Original language
Chinese
Spoken on screen
Chinese
Release dates
Germany · February 12, 2013
Theatrical
United States · March 7, 2015
Harvard Film Archive
Canada
September 30, 2013 · Vancouver International Film Festival
Hong Kong SAR China
January 23, 2015 · Hong Kong Independent Film Festival
Italy
November 27, 2013 · Torino Film Festival
Mexico
February 22, 2013 · FICUNAM
Spain
February 23, 2013 · Punto De Vista Film Festival
Taiwan
October 12, 2014 · Taiwan International Documentary Festival
United Kingdom
June 21, 2013 · Edinburgh International Film Festival
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Some details come from TheTVDB.