Award-winning documentary "Still Tomorrow" tells the story of a very different Chinese poet, a rural woman with cerebral palsy. Also unusual is the way this art film has been screened in over 132 Chinese cities – through crowdfunding.  

In Chinese, this is called "dian ying", or "touch screening", with the “touch” referring to using an app. Get enough people together, and you can watch the movie of your choice at a certain time in a certain place. This new trend is effectively forming a bridge linking audiences and directors.

Poet Yu Xiuhua came to public attention in 2015. Her condition impairs her speech and life, making her life in the countryside very difficult, and she does not belong to any literary circle.

Yet her poems have such originality and poignancy that she became an overnight sensation on social media. She has been compared to America's Emily Dickinson.

Director Fan Jian followed Yu for two years to shoot "Still Tomorrow". The film won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary in the Netherlands in 2016. 

"The tension of the story and the brilliant production quality won the affirmation of the judges and the favor of European audiences. Yu Xiuhua is not famous in Europe, yet many female audience members at the Dutch Festival cried when watching it. I believe this story transcends national boundaries," said the director.

On Saturday night, movie-goers lined up outside a Beijing cinema to see "Still Tomorrow", all having bought tickets from Elephant Touch Screening, the application that coordinated the event.

The people who initiate each crowdfunded screening are involved in the entire process. They attract investment, promote the event and organize people.

Duan Yi is something of a stand-out: He has organized a record nine sessions of this film.

"I like Ms. Yu a lot. Director Fan Jian shot her real life. It's a good model of a documentary. At first, I liked her poems. Then I found many people had never heard of her poems or this documentary. I want to promote the movie and let more people know her," said Duan.

Fan Jian thinks touch screening is a smart strategy for distributing and watching art films. 

"The soul of touch screenings is the initiators around the nation. A large group of people who love art films want to share with friends will initiate and organize the events. They're all volunteers. Several hundred initiators become a large network, influencing more people, and link art films and specific audiences. So people who came to watch the movie know a lot and they really want to watch it," said Fan.

Audiences are also enthusiastic about touch screenings. 

"It's not easy for a documentary to get a screening in China,” observed cinema-goer Guo Wei. “This is a good way to promote it. I haven't even found this way overseas. It can provide a good opportunity for movies which aren't well-known, especially documentaries. Sometimes, distributors may think some movies won't make a profit, but audiences are eager to watch them, and they couldn't find a chance or a way to watch them. This links the two sides."

Crowdfunding may not be the usual way to get a screening, but it could be just the ticket for audiences to make their own choices.