Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke
8 Episodes
Among the greatest filmmakers working today, Chinese master Jia Zhang-Ke is the foremost cinematic chronicler of the vast changes that have transformed his country over the last half century in its transition from communism to a globalized, increasingly market-based society. Beginning his career as an underground filmmaker working without state approval, he first attracted attention for his mid-length student film XIAO SHAN GOING HOME, which led to his revelatory feature debut XIAO WU—the first installment in his Hometown Trilogy, followed by PLATFORM and UNKNOWN PLEASURES, all set in his home province of Shanxi. While he transitioned to state-sanctioned filmmaking with 2004’s THE WORLD, his subsequent films—including modern masterworks like STILL LIFE and ASH IS PUREST WHITE—remain deeply critical of China’s modernization and the disillusionment it has wrought among the country’s youth. Employing rigorously composed long takes, unblinking naturalism, and audacious narrative structures, Jia captures the ironies, ennui, and often surreal metamorphoses of a country suspended between the past and an ever-accelerating future.
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Xiao Wu
Episode 1
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 1997 • China, Hong Kong
Starring Wang Hongwei, Hao Hongjian, Zuo BaitaoThe feature debut of visionary director Jia Zhang-Ke announced the arrival of arguably the most important Chinese filmmaker of his generation. Left behind by friends who have taken advantage of the...
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Platform
Episode 2
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 2000 • China
Starring Wang Hongwei, Zhao Tao, Liang JingdongOne of the first masterpieces of twenty-first century cinema, Jia Zhang-Ke’s sophomore feature is an at once epic and intimate vision of the changing China of the 1980s. Unfolding between 1979 and 1990, PLATF...
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1:52:39Episode 3Unknown Pleasures
Episode 3
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 2002 • China
Starring Wu Qiong, Zhao Wei Wei, Zhao TaoOne of the first great films of the twenty-first century, Jia Zhang-Ke’s third feature (and his first shot on digital) sets an arresting tale of disaffected youth against the backdrop of a changing China. Evoking t...
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The World
Episode 4
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 2004 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Cheng Taishen, Jing JueAn at once intimate and expansive exploration of globalization from visionary director Jia Zhang-Ke, THE WORLD takes place in the eponymous theme park on the outskirts of Beijing, where iconic monuments from the E...
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25:57Episode 5The Hedonists
Episode 5
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 2016 • China
Starring Han Sanming, Jindong Liang, Yuan WenqianJia Zhang-Ke finds wry tragicomedy and sharp social insight in the story of unemployed Shanxi coal miners whose search for work leads them to surprising places.
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2:16:04Episode 6Ash Is Purest White
Episode 6
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 2018 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Liao Fan, Diao YinanVisionary director Jia Zhang-Ke’s mesmerizing, decade-plus spanning journey through China’s criminal underworld features a tour-de-force performance from his frequent star Zhao Tao as Zhao Qiao, the swaggering girlfr...
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1:01:31Episode 7Xiao Shan Going Home
Episode 7
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 1995 • China
Starring Wang Hongwei, Dong Shuzhe, Yao ShengJia Zhang-Ke’s raw yet revelatory student film—in many ways a precursor to his debut feature XIAO WU—stars his frequent on-screen alter ego Wang Hongwei as a young, aimless cook drifting through encounters in B...
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Revive
Episode 8
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke • 2017 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Liang JingdongJia Zhang-Ke’s contribution to the omnibus feature WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? follows a couple contemplating whether to have another child in the wake of the Chinese government’s newly established second-child policy.
