In Public

In Public is a movie that was released in 2001. It is a 30 minute long film and takes place in China. The film is spoken in the Mandarin language. Said to have no real plot, In Public is about everyday life. It was directed by Jia Zhangke, produced by Cha Seoung-jae, and the screenplay was written by Jia Zhangke with sound by Lin Yi. The film has no stars, rather just ordinary people on the streets or in random spots (like train stations and other public transportation locations) going through the motions of every day life.

The movie follows ordinary people as they do many of their tasks and routines in their every day lives. Some shots of In Public shows people doing such things as grocery shopping, others ask for the train schedule, and people riding on public buses. Some shots are on the public buses, others are in disco clubs, train stations, bars, and stores. The film's main purpose was to capture people living mundane moments in a dreary small town filled with impatient people living boring lives.

In Public is a short documentary by underground filmmaker star Jia Zhangke. He wrote the screenplay, did the editing, was the director of the short film, among many other odd jobs he did for the film. He also sought the help of producer Cha Seoung-jae. The film was released at the Digital Shadows festival, also known as Sans Sebastián. Before working on In Public, Jia had done a number of short films while he was studying at the Beijing Film Academy. (Each film would usually last no longer than 10 to 20 minutes) before finding success with his short, In Public. The film was shot around the modern provincial city of China.