Caught by the Tides

"This dreamy, arresting, dialogue-light latest from Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke (Ash Is Purest White) is a poetic, musical and reflective portrait of one woman’s journey to find an old lover – but equally importantly to find herself – set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing nation.

Jia presents his frequent, captivating star Zhao Tao as Qiao Qiao, a young woman from Datong in northern China. We follow her as she leaves her home city, searching for a disappeared former boyfriend, Brother Bin (Li Zhubin). Following a stormy relationship, Bin has abruptly left both Qiao and Datong for a life of shady property development in the middle of the country. But as time goes on Qiao’s search feels less like a search for a person and more like a search for soul and for meaning in a country where so much is changing so quickly" (Time Out).

We meet in the foyer at 5:45pm for the 6:00pm showing of the film, and will head to the ICA cafe for a drink afterwards.