Xiaoshan Going Home  /  Xiao Wu

One of China’s top filmmakers and among global cinema’s most consistent and urgent voices, Jia Zhangke has created one stunning portrait after another of a people and Chinese society in flux. The power of his stories is matched by a visual richness recognized at Cannes, Venice and film festivals the world over. The China Onscreen Biennial is delighted to offer a retrospective of Jia’s work, culminating in the West Coast Premiere of his latest opus and Cannes selection Ash is Purest White.

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

Xiaoshan Going Home (1995)

Jia’s student film, made while he was at the Beijing Film Academy, traces a few days in the life of a migrant worker in Beijing.

Betacam, color, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 59 min. Director/Screenwriter: Jia Zhangke. Cast: Wang Hongwei.

Xiao Wu (1997)

One of the single most important Chinese independent films and a representative work of the Sixth Generation, Xiao Wu follows the everyday misadventures of the eponymous young pickpocket in his (and Jia Zhangke’s) hometown of Fenyang. As Xiao Wu’s bonds with the people around him begin to unravel, so does his relationship with the very city he calls home.

16mm, color, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 108 min. Director/Screenwriter: Jia Zhangke. Cast: Wang Hongwei, Hao Hongjian.