STRIDING INTO THE WIND
STRIDING INTO THE WIND
STRIDING INTO THE WIND
野马分鬃
BONUS FEATURES: TRAILERS, MAKING-OF
精彩花絮：预告片| 幕后特辑
Director: WEI, Shujun Writer: WEI, Shujun; GAO, Linyang Cast: ZHOU, You; ZHENG, Yingchen; WANG, Xiaomu
Film school student Kun graduates into a real-world that moves too fast to care about his auteur aspirations and sound recording skills. Yearning for an escape away from Beijing’s grinding survival races, he sets off for a film shoot in Inner Mongolia’s lush grasslands, where amusing man-made spectacles and unforgettable lessons await him. With three Cannes official selections under his belt at the age of 30, writer-director Wei Shujun is an unstoppable force rising from the Chinese indie film scene. In the debut inspired by his real-life experience, he leisurely delivers sharp observations of the embarrassments surrounding film education and indie filmmaking in a money-oriented society with witty humor.
FESTIVAL AND AWARDS
Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival, Window of Asian Films, Busan International Film Festival
Official Selection, London BFI Film Festiva, New Directors Competition, Chicago International Film Festival
"Striding Into the Wind is easily one of the best Chinese indie or arthouse films of the last few years, and is all the better for its personal feel and its avoidance of the clichés of the form. Wei Shujun does a great job of presenting a relatable picture of directionless youth and of his experiences in the industry, and as a debut feature, the film is invigorating and entertaining from start to finish. "
"The film is elegantly dry-humoured about the film-making game... it should also appeal to admirers of the hangdog comic school of Jarmusch, Kaurismäki etc...You can’t help admire director Wei’s comic self-deprecation in making his autobiographical alter ego such an out-and-out dope."
-Jonathan Romney, Screen International
"If the “slacker movie” moment happened in the U.S. in part as a new generation’s reaction against the economic boom — and growing income inequality , it’s high time a similar indie movement emerged in China...now that there’s an unassumingly perfect foundational text in Wei Shujun’s debut feature, “Striding Into the Wind,” which may be set in modern-day Beijing but putters along like an affectionate throwback to the droll rhythms of early Richard Linklater or Jim Jarmusch...without landing too heavily on the metaphor (the screenplay by Wei and Gao Linyang takes care to appear carefree), the clapped-out car also represents exactly the kind of rugged, adventurous individualism that China’s conformist, money- and status-oriented new society makes little room for."
"The film made me feel very melancholy, as we follow Kun, a struggling sound recordist through film school. Stand out moments in the film include a really accurate portrayal of how the role of sound man is pushed to one side in film school and the “camera team” is given the most praise...and this brought to my mind how film schools are generating so many graduates who then struggle to find even the most basic of film jobs, going into an ever-growing and over-saturated market. "
"Wandering without much direction in a drolly amusing way is the protagonist in Shujun Wei’s apparently autobiographical feature. Striding has a shaggy affability has it rambles for two and a quarter hours or so, hitting some funny set-pieces en route. Our hero is a fuckup who more often than not fucks things up for other people as well. Yet in the film’s gently self-mocking universe of hipster absurdism, it’s hard to hold a grudge against him. This attractively louche comedy opens..."
"a deliriously entertaining and wryly funny snapshot of contemporary youth in China...This visually striking project in its elegance yet jocular idiosyncrasy marks a stellar debut from Shujun."
"Kun’s filmmaker friends emulate Wong Kar-wai, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and Hong Sang-soo, looking beyond the Mainland for a sense of artistic cool but equally seeming to have few truly “independent” ideas of their own. The Chinese indie scene, Wei seems to say, flounders like Kun trapped by his own sense of inertia unable to free himself from an oppressive society, striding into the wind but ill-equipped to counter its resistance."
-Hayley Scanlon, Window on Worlds
"The personal is political in Wei Shujun’s debut feature, Striding Into the Wind. The treatment of this film is realistic and includes a homage to the filmmaking process, which in reality is far from glamorous...we are invited to smile, be upset, reminisce about our youth, reflect on ourselves and the society around us, and question whether we have ever tasted true freedom, even if just for a while."
Available License Types:
Public Performance Rights (PPR)
The license allows an organization to hold screenings of the film on its own grounds, to groups of no more than 50 people, and where no admission is charged.
(For screenings that charge admission and or with an audience of more than 50 people, please send booking inquiries to info@chengchengfilm.com)
Digital Site License (DSL)
The License allows an organization to provide digital streaming on a password protected server only to registered students, members, researchers, faculty and staff.
Available Formats:
DVD
NTSC, Audio: Dolby Digital, Region Code: 1
Subtitles: English
Bonus Features: Trailers, Music Video, Making-of
Digital File
High Quality 1080p mp4 file
Subtitles: Subtitles in English and simplified Chinese
Spoken Languages: Mandarin Chinese
Not Rated, Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (16:9 Widescreen)
Disclaimer: All rights of the producer and of the owner of the work reproduced are reserved. Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, public performance, radio or TV broadcasting of the disc is prohibited.
Licensed by Cheng Cheng Films. www.chengchengfilm.com
