SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE Documentary movie trailer HD - Jia Zhang-ke’s latest traces the history of contemporary China through the lives and writings of four of the country’s prolific literary figures.

In May 2019, a large number of prominent Chinese writers and scholars gathered in a village in China’s Shanxi Province — which happens to be director Jia Zhang-ke’s native province. Images from this literary event open Jia’s latest work, an 18-chapter “symphony” that follows a quasi-musical structure classic Chinese novels have often used. The story is told through memories of the late writer-activist Ma Feng and the testimonies of three major writers who are active today: Jia Pingwa, who was born in the 1950s; Yu Hua, born in the 1960s; and Liang Hong, born in the ’70s. As these writers recount their own lives and literary careers, Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue weaves a 70-year spiritual history of Chinese society.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Jia’s last documentary, I Wish I Knew, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2011. Since then, he’s directed the narrative features Ash Is Purest White, Mountains May Depart, and A Touch of Sin, all of which played the Festival. Jia returns to non-fiction with this final panel in his trilogy about the arts in China, following Venice winners Dong (2006) and Useless (2007).

“An ode to the importance of art that is a work of art itself, Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is yet another fascinating look at contemporary China courtesy of Jia Zhangke.” –Lee Jutton, Film Inquiry