Directed by Jia Zhangke
11 Episodes
Among the greatest filmmakers working today, Chinese master Jia Zhangke 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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24 City
Episode 1
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2008 • China
Starring Joan Chen, Lü Liping, Zhao TaoFounded in 1958 to produce aviation engines, the once prosperous, now abandoned Chengdu Engine Group, known as Factory 420, awaits its destiny. Sold for millions to real estate developers, it will be transformed into ...
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1:47:57Episode 2Still Life
Episode 2
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2006 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Han Sanming, Wang HongweiJia Zhangke employs an eloquent hybrid of documentary and fiction to tell the story of those left behind by a rapidly transforming Chinese society. Great changes have come to the town of Fengjie due to the constr...
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Xiao Wu
Episode 3
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 1997 • China, Hong Kong
Starring Wang Hongwei, Hao Hongjian, Zuo BaitaoThe feature debut of visionary director Jia Zhangke announced the arrival of arguably the most important Chinese filmmaker of his generation. Left behind by friends who have taken advantage of the c...
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Platform
Episode 4
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2000 • China
Starring Wang Hongwei, Zhao Tao, Liang JingdongOne of the first masterpieces of twenty-first century cinema, Jia Zhangke’s sophomore feature is an at once epic and intimate vision of the changing China of the 1980s. Unfolding between 1979 and 1990, PLATFOR...
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1:52:39Episode 5Unknown Pleasures
Episode 5
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2002 • China
Starring Wu Qiong, Zhao Wei Wei, Zhao TaoOne of the first great films of the twenty-first century, Jia Zhangke’s third feature (and his first shot on digital) sets an arresting tale of disaffected youth against the backdrop of a changing China. Evoking the...
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The World
Episode 6
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2004 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Cheng Taishen, Jing JueAn at once intimate and expansive exploration of globalization from visionary director Jia Zhangke, THE WORLD takes place in the eponymous theme park on the outskirts of Beijing, where iconic monuments from the Eif...
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1:52:14Episode 7Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
Episode 7
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2020 • China
From master director Jia Zhangke comes a vital document of Chinese society and its transformation since 1949. Jia interviews three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong—born in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, respectively. In their stories, we h...
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25:57Episode 8The Hedonists
Episode 8
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2016 • China
Starring Han Sanming, Jindong Liang, Yuan WenqianJia Zhangke 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 9Ash Is Purest White
Episode 9
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2018 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Liao Fan, Diao YinanVisionary director Jia Zhangke’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 girlfrie...
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1:01:31Episode 10Xiao Shan Going Home
Episode 10
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 1995 • China
Starring Wang Hongwei, Dong Shuzhe, Yao ShengJia Zhangke’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 Bei...
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Revive
Episode 11
Directed by Jia Zhangke • 2017 • China
Starring Zhao Tao, Liang JingdongJia Zhangke’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.
