When Ruoma Was Seventeen

2003

1h 28min

Set in a remote mountainous region of southern China, the film is about a Hani tribe girl, Ruoma (Li Min) who dreams of seeing the outside world. Ruoma lives with her grandma and sells roasted corn in a market for fifty cents an ear. Beautifully attired in Hani ethnic clothing, she by chance catches the eye of a penniless photographer, Aming (Yang Zhigang). They soon becoming friends and he gets the idea of making money by having her pose with tourists beside a famous World Heritage site. Charging ten yuan per photo, they hope to make some money. Ruoma does her job well, sweetly smiling with the tourists while dreaming of going to the big city and riding in a glass elevator. She also falls in love with Aming.