THE WIDOWED WITCH

Er Hou must be cursed, that is sure, as far as a northern Chinese village's residents are concerned. How else do you explain that she lost a husband for the third time, when the firework factory they were jointly running exploded. But Er Hou can use the country folk's superstitions to her advantage when a man she publicly slapped claims that she has healed his stiff neck. From there on in, she makes her living as a shaman. Chai Chengjie's winner of the main prize at the Rotterdam Film Festival connects a relentless insight into China's backwater territories with a surprisingly black sense of humor and a real talent for visual details and spectacular backdrops.