看点好的吧！EP 18 之 《去沙漠里找》

​本周日 9 月 27 日下午 6 点至 9 点，「看点好的吧！」单元临时闪现，放映史上第一部华人火人节纪录片 《去沙漠里找》（aka 格外书店非官方之前传）。

​这是一部带有自我反射意味的纪录片，记录了一群生活、工作在美国西海岸，尤其是旧金山湾区（也称“硅谷”）的“美漂”青年，踏上前往火人节的旅程。

​他们因“706青年空间”而相识，又在荒漠中共同搭建起自己的营地与艺术装置。然而，一场十年一遇的极端天气打乱了所有人的计划与预期，也让他们在风沙与暴雨中经历了一场短暂而热烈的共生。

​影片的大部分素材拍摄于 2023 年火人节前后，既包括他们在沙漠中的经历，也记录了此前漫长的筹备过程。在烈日、风暴与夜色之间，摄影机注视着这群漂泊海外的年轻人：他们如何在共同体的搭建过程中经历协作与矛盾、失序与重建，以及理解与接纳如何一点点生成。

​海的一边，是不断被压缩的公共空间；海的另一边，是日益收紧的移民政策。

​对于成长于全球化与相对开放时期的一代中国年轻人而言，世界似乎曾经无限宽广。但今天，是否仍然存在一片可以抵达的应许之地？

​这既是一部关于青年、理想与共同体的电影，也是一场关于“寻找”的旅程，以及一次对“构建”是否仍然可能的追问。

​“我不知道你在找什么，但我感觉你可能的确是在找什么。沙漠里什么都没有，但你却偏偏要去那里找。”
—— 顾宜凡

​时长：177 分钟（约 3 小时）
语言：中文
字幕：中文 / 英文

​This Sunday, September 27, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Better Cinema Wednesday makes a surprise pop-up appearance with a screening of the first-ever Chinese Burning Man documentary, Go Desert, Go West (aka the unofficial prequel to Unbound Bookstore).

​This quietly reflexive documentary follows a group of young Chinese migrants living and working on the U.S. West Coast—especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, also known as “Silicon Valley”—as they embark on a journey to Burning Man.

​Having met through the “706 Youth Space” community, they travel to the desert to build their own camp and art installation. But a once-in-a-decade extreme weather event disrupts all of their plans and expectations, forcing them into a brief yet intense experience of communal living amid dust storms and torrential rain.

​Most of the footage was shot around Burning Man in 2023, documenting not only their time in the desert but also the long process of preparation leading up to it. Between scorching sun, storms, and the darkness of night, the camera observes these young people living far from home as they experience collaboration and conflict, disorder and rebuilding, and the gradual emergence of understanding and acceptance through the process of building a community together.

​On one side of the ocean, public space continues to shrink; on the other, immigration policies are becoming increasingly restrictive.

​For a generation of young Chinese people who came of age during a period of globalization and relative openness, the world once seemed almost limitless. But today, does there still remain a promised land that can actually be reached?

​This is both a film about youth, ideals, and community, and a journey of “searching”—as well as an inquiry into whether “building” something together is still possible.

​“I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I have a feeling that you really are looking for something. There’s nothing in the desert, and yet you insist on going there to search for it.”
— Yifan Gu

​Running time: 177 minutes (approx. 3 hours)
Language: Chinese
Subtitles: Chinese / English