Private Project

Howling City

On a piece of wasteland in midsummer in southern China, teenager Amao has a secret with no one to tell while living by the law of the jungle. Within the violence, he takes on a new identity and demeanor to become king of the hill in this deplorable world. But when he happens upon a white puppy one day, he realizes his mad obsession and effort are just a fabrication, and a blood-red hatred inundates the summer night and his mind.

  • Junting Fan
    Director
  • Junting Fan
    Writer
  • Junting Fan
    Producer
  • Zhiyu Hao
    Sound Supervisor
    Crosscurrent
  • Yang Yang
    Editing Director
    Will You Look At Me
  • Project Type:
    Short, Other
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 8, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 CNY
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Junting Fan

Fan Junting graduated from the Communication University of Zhejiang and is an independent director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in the 1980s in a small town at the foot of Changbai Mountain in northeastern China, known as a place of origin of shamanism, he has a unique natural talent and perceptive capacity. At an extremely dark time in his life, he received guidance from a tarot card in the palm of an internationally renowned spiritual master, making him determined to pursue his dream of being a director. This was the springboard for years of work in such fields as advertising, metaphysics, performing arts, and music. While on a bike ride in 2023, an image suddenly came to him, prompting him to take out a loan to shoot his first independent short film, Howling City.

As a mysterious, wild dream-chaser, Fan bases his work half on the land and half on the sky, meandering among the cracks of reality and desire. With his sharp perspective, he exposes the many faces of human nature within the mundane.

His full-length picture Demise of Youth won the third prize for best original film script for the 9th Film Association Cup, was named one of the top ten for the “Zhijiang New Director Project” at the Zhejiang International Youth Film Festival, and was also named one of the top 35 at the 15th Chinese Youth Film Week. He is currently making preparations to shoot it.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is the story of a weak teenager who, when trying to survive violence, is trained to become a vicious dog. It aims to show his twisted relationship with the external world as well as the inner struggle deep inside him through his experiences wandering on the edge of savagery, which is a metaphor for how the omnipresence of violence in our day disciplines and alienates individuals and leads to existential anxiety. On a summer night, Amao faces the choice to be a person, a dog, or the top dog, a reflection of the values of society.

Visually, the film attempts to use color as a direct participant in narrating the story. The bold use of the gaudy red, green, blue, and purple neon characteristic of a city to present different times and places and to set off the changes in the protagonist as he progresses through these times and places creates a strong sense of emotion and vitality.