Poet on a Business Trip

  • 103'
  • China
  • 2015
In 2002, Ju Anqi made a film about a tour by the poet Shu through Xinjiang, the most western-lying, autonomous Uyghur province of China. All that we know about Shu is that he plays a poet who sends himself on a business trip - an absurd, satirical starting point that sets the tone for the film.
For a variety of reasons, it was not until 2013 that Ju started editing the rough, lyrical material that he had shot in what is now a very restless Xinjiang: it's like an excellent wine that has had time to mature. Structured around 16 poems which he wrote on the road, Shu’s physically exhausting journey takes him along endless rocky roads, passing shabby inns and through impressive landscapes from one prostitute to the next.
In its documentary authenticity, Poet on a Business Trip is also an historic document that exudes an atmosphere of loss, providing an unsentimental yet melancholy glimpse of a country in transition and a mirror for the existential irreversibility of time.
Winner NETPAC Award 2015

  • 103'
  • China
  • 2015
Director
Ju Anqi
Premiere
World premiere
Country of production
China
Year
2015
Festival Edition
IFFR 2015
Length
103'
Medium
DCP
Original title
Shi ren chu chai le
Language
Mandarin
Producer
Zhenhua Li
Production Company
Trench Film Group
Sales
Trench Film Group
Screenplay
Ju Anqi
Cinematography
Ju Anqi
Editor
Wang Kang
Production Design
Li Zhenhua
Sound Design
Xiao Bao
Music
Li Yuan, Ma Yuanyuan
Website
http://juanqi.com
Director
Ju Anqi
Premiere
World premiere
Country of production
China
Year
2015
Festival Edition
IFFR 2015
Length
103'
Medium
DCP
Original title
Shi ren chu chai le
Language
Mandarin
Producer
Zhenhua Li
Production Company
Trench Film Group
Sales
Trench Film Group
Screenplay
Ju Anqi
Cinematography
Ju Anqi
Editor
Wang Kang
Production Design
Li Zhenhua
Sound Design
Xiao Bao
Music
Li Yuan, Ma Yuanyuan
Website
http://juanqi.com