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Filmed in HD digital video, “Dong” is a documentary about artist and actor Liu Xiaodong, who invited Jia Zhang-ke to film him as he painted two groups of subjects: laborers near the Three Gorges Dam and later, sex workers in Bangkok. “Still Life” was shot simultaneously, sharing the same setting and, in some instances, even the same shots. Han Sanming, one of “Still Life”‘s leads, also appears (in ‘character’) within “Dong”, along with other figures from that film, further emphasizing the connection between the two works.

Dong is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas

Expectedly, the documentary is split into two parts, each set in one of the aforementioned locations. The first takes place in the Three Gorges Region in 2005, documenting Liu Xiaodong’s process as he creates “Hot Bed”, a painting depicting 11 dam workers, most of whom are stripped to the waist (to say the least). During filming,...

Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, who “humanizes China’s modern history – and turns it into poetry,” according to one critic, will be the guest of honor at Visions du Réel. The documentary film festival’s 55th edition runs April 12-21 in Nyon, Switzerland.

Jia, a leading figure in independent Chinese cinema, will present a masterclass exploring his body of work, and a retrospective of his films will run throughout the edition. The tribute is made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse and Ecal, the university of art and design in Lausanne.

“Since the outbreak of Covid-19, I haven’t left China for almost four years,” Jia said. “I feel like embracing the world again, as excited as a child about to go on a long trip for the first time. I am heading to Nyon for cinema that reveals the world as it really is.”

Jia belongs to...