Fortune Teller

For four seasons, this confrontational documentary follows Li Baicheng, a traditional Chinese soothsayer, and his deaf and dumb, mentally and physically handicapped wife Little Pearl.
In a village not far from Beijing, Li predicts the future for his clientele, which primarily seems to consist of prostitutes. When the police starts clamping down on both the sex industry and illegal soothsayers, he feels forced to return with Little Pearl to his home village.
The narrative is structured into chapters, referring in form to the popular fiction of the Qing dynasty. After having documented the double life of a young prostitute in Wheat Harvest, Xu Tong again portrays outsiders in Chinese society. In tackling those who cannot profit from the extreme modernisation of the country, or expect any help from the Chinese state, he has created a film both unprecedentedly intimate and socially committed.