back

Yi zhi you dao hai shui bian lan

Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
Berlinale Special 2020
© X Stream Pictures
Jia Zhang-ke has a close relationship to his hometown of Fenyang in Shanxi Province; this is where he shot his first film Xiao Wu as well as a number of others including Platform and Mountains May Depart. As a result of its strong economic performance and deeply rooted cultural traditions, the region has a special history and has become something of a Chinese Arcadia. Several writers have been here and taken the reality of rural lives as a point of reference for their poems, stories and novels. Jia founded a new film festival in Pingyao in 2017 and, as cultural ambassador of the region, also launched a literary festival in 2019. It was in this context that he made this documentary. In it, esteemed writers Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua and Liang Hong, who belong to three different generations, describe their own experiences and the influence those experiences have on their work in an urbanised China that has been transformed by the Cultural Revolution, economic reform and modernisation.
by Jia Zhang-ke
with Duan Huifang, Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, Liang Hong People’s Republic of China 2020 Mandarin 112' Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Duan Huifang (herself)
  • Jia Pingwa (himself)
  • Yu Hua (himself)
  • Liang Hong (himself)

Crew

Director Jia Zhang-ke
Screenplay Jia Zhang-ke, Wan Jiahuan
Cinematography Yu Lik-wai
Editing Kong Jinlei
Sound Design Zhang Yang
Assistant Director Wang Jing
Production Manager Zhang Dong
Producer Zhao Tao
Co-Producers Fu Ruoqing, Wang Jianer, Gao Xiaojiang, Sun Changpeng, Zhu Weijie, Wang Zhongjun, Lin Binwei, Zhu Zhenhua
Co-Production Huaxia Film Distribution Peking
Shanghai Group Corporation Shanghai
Shanxi Film and Television Group Shanxi
Huaxin Kylin Culture Media Peking
Wisharty Media Peking
Huayi Brothers Pictures Peking
Shi Dian Culture Communication Tianjin
We Entertainment Xiamen

World Sales

mk2 Films

https://mk2films.com/en/ https://mk2films.com/en/

Produced by

Xstream Pictures

Photos

Press Conference

Jia Zhang-ke

© Xstream Pictures

Born in Fenyang, China in 1970, he graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. His debut feature film, Xiao Wu, screened in the Berlinale Forum in 1998. Since then, his films have regularly premiered at major European festivals. Still Life won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2006, A Touch Of Sin received the award for Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2013, and Mountains May Depart and Ash Is Purest White featured in competition at Cannes in 2015 and 2018, respectively.

Filmography

1998 Xiao Wu 2000 Platform 2001 In Public; Documentary 2002 Unknown Pleasures 2004 The World 2006 Dong; Documentary · Still Life 2007 Useless; Documentary 2008 24 City 2010 I Wish I Knew; Documentary 2013 A Touch of Sin 2015 Mountains May Depart 2018 Ash Is Purest White 2020 Yi zhi you dao hai shui bian lan; Documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020