'Return to Dust' trivia and fun facts
Where was filmed?
The movie was filmed in the director's hometown, the village of Hugiangzi, in Gansu province. Most of the crew are residents of the village, except for a few of the main characters. In fact, the mud houses where the protagonists live in the movie can be found everywhere in this place.
Relatives of the director
The lead actor in this film, Renlin Wu, is the uncle from his mother's side of director the Ruijun Li.
Meaning behind the names of the children
Youtie, means "having iron" in Chinese. His two dead older brothers are called "having gold" and "having silver", and the third older brother who is still alive is called "having copper". The order of "gold, silver, copper and iron" is a Chinese folk custom.
Banned from China
This movie was banned from the streaming services in China on september for unknown reasons. It was also banned from the social media.
Blackmail
This film shows how the local government pays farmers to demolish their ruined and unused houses to execute a more important government command to improve the appearance of the little village. Some of the villagers that left the village to work outside in bigger and better cities in China decided to return home to consent the demolition of their old houses in order to receive the money the government promised.