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."



Charles Dolan, HBO and Cablevision Founder, Dies at 98

A sign is displayed at Cablevision headquarters in Bethpage, NY, on Sept. 17, 2015. (AP)
A sign is displayed at Cablevision headquarters in Bethpage, NY, on Sept. 17, 2015. (AP)
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Charles Dolan, HBO and Cablevision Founder, Dies at 98

A sign is displayed at Cablevision headquarters in Bethpage, NY, on Sept. 17, 2015. (AP)
A sign is displayed at Cablevision headquarters in Bethpage, NY, on Sept. 17, 2015. (AP)

Charles F. Dolan, who founded some of the most prominent US media companies including Home Box Office Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp., has died at age 98, according to a news report.

A statement issued Saturday by his family said Dolan died of natural causes, Newsday reported late Saturday.

"It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved father and patriarch, Charles Dolan, the visionary founder of HBO and Cablevision," the statement said.

Dolan's legacy in cable broadcasting includes the 1972 launch of Home Box Office, later known as HBO, and founding Cablevision in 1973 and the American Movie Classics television station in 1984. He also launched News 12 in New York City, the first 24-hour cable channel for local news in the US, Newsday reported.

The Cleveland native, who dropped out of John Carroll University in suburban Cleveland, completed the sale of Cablevision to Altice, a European telecommunications and cable company, for $17.7 billion in June 2016.

Dolan, whose primary home was in Cove Neck Village on Long Island in New York, also held controlling stakes in companies that owned Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the New York Knicks and New York Rangers sports franchises, Newsday reported.

James L. Dolan, one of his sons, was the Cablevision CEO from 1995 until the 2016 sale to Altice. He now is the executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. The company owns the Knicks and Rangers, among other properties, according to the MSG Sports website.

A statement from MSG Entertainment, MSG Sports and Sphere Entertainment recalled Dolan's "vision."

"Mr. Dolan's vision built the foundation for the companies we are today, and as a member of our Boards he continued to help shape our future. The impact he made on the media, sports, and entertainment industries, including as the founder of Cablevision and HBO, is immeasurable," the statement said. "We do not expect this to directly or indirectly change ownership by the Dolan family."

Newsday, which Cablevision purchased in 2008, also came under the control of Altice with the sale. Patrick Dolan, another son of Charles Dolan, led a group that repurchased 75% of Newsday Media Group in July 2016. Patrick Dolan then purchased the remaining 25% stake in 2018.

At the time of his death, Charles Dolan and his family had a net worth of $5.4 billion, Forbes reported.

Dolan was a founder and chairman emeritus of The Lustgarten Foundation in Uniondale, New York, which conducts pancreatic cancer research.

He is survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His wife, Helen Ann Dolan, died in 2023, Newsday reported.