Ballad of Roaming Spirits trailer [documentary of folk religion in northern Shaanxi]

Описание: Yajun, the temple keeper in northern Shaanxi, has the ability to cure the sick and save people, but he can’t cure his own illness or eliminate his own suffering.

SYNOPSIS
Northern Shaanxi is at the crossroads of farming civilization and nomadic culture, and folk beliefs are also mixed. The original belief here is Shamanism, the belief in the existence of spirits in all things. In addition, the worship of ancestors, mythological figures and heroes, combined with the influence of various religions, has formed a pantheistic culture.
In a rural village in northern Shaanxi, surrounded by barren hills, Yajun, a wanderer by nature, looks after a small temple. He believes he is able to communicate with some kind of god and has the power to heal others. Yajun is reluctant to charge money for the god’s mission.
As the seasons change, this lighthearted portrait of the wanderer Yajun begins to weave in impressions of rural life, including the rituals of village conventions, the festivals of gods and monsters, and the unspoken poverty. The suffering people of the yellow land can’t get rid of their physical pains and can’t solve the sufferings in their hearts, so they have to go up to the mountains to ask the gods for blessings and peace.
People think he works like a charm, but he cannot cure his own illnesses or eliminate his own sufferings. Spirit-possessed mediums often undergo a tragic process of divine revelation. Since the departure of his wife, who was bought from a human trafficker, Yajun is confused as to whether there is another will for the suffering he has endured. Pesticides, rat poison, sleeping pills, Yajun has tried them all and just can’t die. As a messenger of the gods, the repeated rejection by death is somewhat absurd, but mostly hopeless.
As winter turns to spring, the two “sacred sheep” that will soon be slaughtered and sacrificed are still playing and roaming on the grassy slopes…

INFORMATION
1 hour 23 minutes | English & Simplified Chinese subtitles | HD (1920×1080)
China | 2019
Director: Li Xiaofeng, Jia Kai

AWARDS & FILM FESTIVALS
1. Official Selection of Luminous Section, 2019 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
2. Nomination for IDF Competition, 2020 West Lake International Documentary Festival (IDF)
3. Official Selection, 2023 Chinese Independent Film Archive (CIFA) Launch Film Series
And more.

HIGHLIGHT ENDORSEMENT
“The editing of this film is so good. Layer upon layer.”
Yang Tingxuan, West Lake International Documentary Festival (IDF)

“From this perspective, they are the documentary filmmakers in China who have the most Herzog spirit. This is the atheist’s attitude towards life and death.”
Zhang Xianmin, Professor of Film Studies at Beijing Film Academy

“This film does the ‘out of body’ thing, creating a trance and a strong attraction.”
Cong Feng, documentary filmmaker and poet