Fortune Teller: (Suan Ming)

From The dGenerate Films Collection

Directed by XU Tong

129 minutes / Color
English; Mandarin / English subtitles
Release: 2012
Copyright: 2010

The colorful life of a countryside fortune teller provides a candid and deeply revelatory look at people living on the fringes of Chinese society.

Li Baicheng is a charismatic fortune teller who services a clientele of prostitutes and shadowy figures whose jobs, like his, are commonplace but technically illegal in China. He practices his ancient craft in a village near Beijing while taking care of his deaf and dumb wife Pearl, who he rescued from her family's mistreatment. Winter brings a police crackdown on both fortune tellers and prostitutes, forcing Li and Pearl into temporary exile, during which they visit their hometowns and confront old family demons. Li's humble story is punctuated with chapter headings reminiscent of Qing Dynasty popular fiction.

In Fortune Teller, Xu Tong continues his work documenting China's underclass, whose lives have gone largely unnoticed during the country's boom years. Xu spent a year filming nearly every detail of Li's daily existence and the ancient spiritual practices he administers.

"An exhaustive case history on the marginalization of the poor and disabled under Chinese capitalism"—Ronnie Scheib, Variety

"A complete immersion into their deceptively simple world in the countryside of northern China."—Ada Tseng, Asia Pacific Arts

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Credits

XU Tong

Select Accolades

  • Top 100 mainland Chinese films, Time Out Shanghai 2014
  • Bright Future Award, Rotterdam International Film Festival 2010
  • Jury Prize, China Documentary Film Festival 2010
  • Second Prize Feature Film, Hong Kong Chinese Documentary Festival 2010
  • NETPAC Award for the Best Feature-length Film, Chongqing Independent Film Festival 2010

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