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IMMORTALS IN THE VILLAGE

Yu Guangyi

Release year: 2017

Run time: 111 mins

Film type: Documentary

Synopsis

In a cold mountain village of the northeastern China, there's a locally famous Shaman Xu. In his youth, he had been a teacher as well as an accountant for the factory production team. Now he is about seventy years old, serving as a spiritual medium. During the cold days, he invites all kinds of spirit by singing some ancient ballads while beating a donkey-hide drum. After allowing the spirit to enter his body, with the help from the unseen world, the unconscious Shaman will cast spell, acquire medicine and divine information for the fellow villagers. Shaman Xu's life leads out several other spiritual mediums and their families.

 

Director biography

Yu Guangyi was born in 1961 in China's northeastern Heilongjiang Province. After graduating from the Chinese Academy of Art in Hangzhou, he worked for many years as a woodblock print artist. He began making independent documentary films in 2004. His first film was Mu Bang (Timber Gang).