While the Chinese director has won acclaim for movies like A Touch of Sin and Ash Is Purest White, his documentaries are an equally vital part of his oeuvre.
China
Posted inArt
Echoes of Buddhist “Emptiness” in Contemporary Chinese Art
The four artists in the exhibition “Silent Thunder” display varying degrees of engagement with Buddhism — as a faith, an aesthetic choice, a school of philosophy, or a social phenomenon.
Posted inFilm
Jia Zhangke Looks at the Drastically Different Past and Present of Shanxi Province
Hyperallergic has the exclusive premiere of the poster and trailer for Jia’s upcoming documentary Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue.
Posted inFilm
Observing a Changing Wuhan Along the Banks of the Yangtze
Hyperallergic talks to Wuhan native Shengze Zhu about her new documentary A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces, which recently premiered at Berlinale.
Posted inFilm
The Battle Against COVID-19 in Wuhan
Following healthcare workers during the early months of the pandemic, the film 76 Days draws an inspiring picture of collective effort to fight disaster.
Posted inIn Brief
French Museum Postpones Genghis Khan Exhibition, Accusing Chinese Authorities of Censorship
A museum in Nantes says that it decided to pause the exhibition after Chinese authorities asked that names and terms like “Genghis Khan,” “empire,” and “Mongol” not be used in the exhibition.
Posted inNews
Would You Walk on the World’s Longest Glass Bridge?
The structure, which stretches 1,725 feet across the Lianjiang River in Guangdong Province, has broken a Guinness World Record.
Posted inFilm
A Comedic Look at How Capitalism Has Warped Chinese History and Culture
In Jia Zhangke’s short film The Hedonists, finally available to stream, laid-off miners become theme park reenactors.
Posted inFilm
Ai Weiwei Captures the Strange Normalcy of Wuhan Under Lockdown
The dissident artist’s critique of his home country remains relentless, in particular identifying how bureaucracy can leave people out in the cold.
Posted inNews
Ai Weiwei Drops Surprise Film About the COVID-19 Lockdown in Wuhan
Since the beginning of the quarantine, the artist was remotely directing a crew of camerapeople to document the government’s response to the virus.
Posted inIn Brief
Largest Buddha Statue In The World Threatened By Rising Waters
As incessant floods continue in China, water reached the toes of the Leshan Giant Buddha for the first time in at least seven decades.
Posted inNews
Protesting Chinese Censorship Around COVID-19, Artist Takes Vow of Silence
For his #shutupfor30days project, artist and activist Brother Nut used metal clasps, duct tape, and other props to physically seal his mouth during the entire month of June.