Incense (film)

Incense is a 2003 Chinese indie/underground film written and directed by Ning Hao, then a Beijing Film Academy film major, on a ¥9000 budget. The film tells a somewhat humorous and tragic story about a Buddhist monk in a remote Shanxi village trying to repair the statue in his dilapidated temple. After encountering bureaucratic government employees, crooked policemen, and thugs who lie to him or rob him, he finally decides to bamboozle superstitious believers to raise the money.

Incense
Chinese	香火
Hanyu Pinyin	Xiāng Huǒ
Directed by	Ning Hao
Written by	Ning Hao
Produced by	Zhang Yu Liu Qingmiao
Starring	Li Qiang
Cinematography	Ning Hao
Edited by	Liu Xin Lao Wu
Release date	2003 (2003)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	China
Language	Jin Chinese

The film was never released in Chinese theaters but rather shown at international film festivals and a few "art houses" in the west.