China’s Jia Brings Film Spanning Love, Change over Decades to Busan

This picture taken on October 5, 2024 shows Chinese film director Jia Zhangke (L) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao (R) posing for photos during a press conference for the Gala Presentation "Caught by the Tides" at the 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan. (Yonhap/AFP)
This picture taken on October 5, 2024 shows Chinese film director Jia Zhangke (L) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao (R) posing for photos during a press conference for the Gala Presentation "Caught by the Tides" at the 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan. (Yonhap/AFP)
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China’s Jia Brings Film Spanning Love, Change over Decades to Busan

This picture taken on October 5, 2024 shows Chinese film director Jia Zhangke (L) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao (R) posing for photos during a press conference for the Gala Presentation "Caught by the Tides" at the 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan. (Yonhap/AFP)
This picture taken on October 5, 2024 shows Chinese film director Jia Zhangke (L) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao (R) posing for photos during a press conference for the Gala Presentation "Caught by the Tides" at the 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan. (Yonhap/AFP)

Chinese director Jia Zhangke's ambitious latest, which utilizes footage shot across two decades, offered a peek into the evolving nature of cinema as it unspooled at this year's Busan International Film Festival.

"Caught by the Tides" combines a story of elusive love with a panoramic portrayal of recent Chinese history using everything from low-resolution digital camera footage to a scene enhanced with cutting-edge AI technology.

And while it explores the meaning of the past, the film's creation emphasized innovation.

Jia assembled and recontextualized footage shot over more than 20 years, including unused scenes from previous films, newly filmed sequences, and random images he captured during his travels -- blending documentary and fiction.

The result, with a format reminiscent of Richard Linklater's 2014 film "Boyhood", creates a vivid record of time passing, particularly through lead actress Zhao Tao, Jia's long-time collaborator and wife in real life.

As she goes on a fruitless search for a lost love, audiences witness her age before their eyes.

The film also uses images related to key events that have shaped contemporary China, such as the successful bid for the 2008 Olympics and the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, which resulted in often overlooked suffering for those displaced by the project.

"After Covid, I felt that one era had ended and a new one was emerging," Jia told reporters in Busan when asked what motivated him to create "Caught by the Tides".

"With the rapid advancements in technology, including science, the Internet, and AI, people's lifestyles have also shifted. I realized that during this period of change, it was important to process the (accumulated) footage I had previously filmed."

Actress Zhao described the film as a "truly precious gift."

"It has allowed me to document my 20s, 30s, and 40s through the medium of film, while also expressing the lives and struggles of many women through the character," she told reporters.

The film played over the weekend as part of BIFF's gala presentation section.

- Covid, cinema and AI -

Jia's feature debut, "Xiao Wu", earned the director BIFF's New Current Award for emerging filmmakers in 1998, when he was just 28.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that my life as a filmmaker started in Busan," Jia said, adding he had missed the South Korean port city since his last visit.

He has since won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival for "Still Life" (2006), among other prestigious awards, establishing himself as one of the most important Chinese filmmakers of his generation.

"Jia stood out as someone who is obviously talented. He was, above all else, original," Kim Dong-ho, the 87-year-old BIFF founder, told AFP of the Chinese filmmaker's younger years.

Now 54, Jia has brought his latest film to Busan at a pivotal moment of change for the festival.

BIFF's opening night featured a streaming title for the first time in its history, and it hosted a day-long conference just on the theme of AI in content production.

At the festival's main venue, giant posters of Netflix's latest streaming projects underlined the shift -- including its opening film "Uprising," positioned next to a festival gift store that ironically proclaimed: "Theater is Not Dead."

Jia's film, by its end, reflects and evokes these changes and what may lie ahead, showing its characters queuing for PCR tests and wearing masks during the Covid pandemic, an era that contributed to the rise of streaming platforms worldwide.

One scene was modified using AI technology, changing the film that the protagonist watches to create a stronger link to an element introduced later in the story -- robots.

When reflecting on his some 26 years in film, Jia said: "It feels like I've been drifting in an endless ocean."

But "completing each film made me feel like I stood tall, having overcome the waves."



FIFA Signs Netflix to US Broadcast Deal for Women's World Cup in 2027, 2031

The Netflix logo is displayed at Netflix corporate offices on September 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
The Netflix logo is displayed at Netflix corporate offices on September 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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FIFA Signs Netflix to US Broadcast Deal for Women's World Cup in 2027, 2031

The Netflix logo is displayed at Netflix corporate offices on September 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
The Netflix logo is displayed at Netflix corporate offices on September 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

FIFA has signed Netflix to a United States broadcast deal for the Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031.

The deal announced Friday is the most significant FIFA has signed with a streaming service for a major tournament. The value was not given.

World Cups are typically broadcast on free-to-air public networks to reach the biggest audiences.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino publicly criticized public broadcasters, especially in Europe, for undervaluing offers to broadcast the 2023 tournament that was played in Australia and New Zealand. That tournament was broadcast by Fox in the US, The AP reported.

"This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game," Infantino said Friday in a statement.

FIFA will likely use the Netflix deal to drive talks with European broadcasters that will be more hardball negotiations.

The 32-team, 64-game tournament in 2027 will be played in Brazil from June 24-July 25. The 2031 host has not been decided, though the US is expected to bid.

Spain won the 2023 tournament after the US won the two previous titles.

Netflix dipped into live sports last month with more than 60 million households watching a heavily hyped boxing match between retired heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul.