TEDIOUS DAYS AND NIGHTS

After living as a drifting poet for 30 years, Zeng Dekuang went back to his birthplace, Coal Dam, located in a closed state-owned coal mine in southern China. Life has undergone tremendous changes, and the line between reality and memories gets blurry. Two poet friends He Lu and Guan Dangsheng came to visit him. They wander together among the debris. In aimless wandering and personal memories, a hidden historical wound is presented. 32 years ago, as a student leader, Zeng's life changed greatly because of his participation in the democratic movement in1989. Summer passed into fall, Poet Zeng couldn't extricate himself in the continuous drizzle of late autumn. He had to fight against the nihility of life.

The poet, much like the camera, seems to be looking for a promised future, an echo from the past voiced by Mao and other party officials, an integral part of the songs Dekuang recites in the empty theatre. Just like the protagonists of Samuel Beckett's famous play, they are waiting for the arrival of something,

Rouven Linnarz - Asian Movie Pulse

Official Selection

34th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) 2023

Berlin Critics’ Week 2024

Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival

Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival2024