24 City

24 City

2008. China. Directed by Jia Zhangke. With Jianbin Chen, Joan Chen, Liping Lu. Throughout his distinguished career, Jia Zhangke has blurred the boundary between documentary and fiction like no other Chinese director. At a state-owned factory being demolished to make way for a luxury apartment complex, Jia explores the history of the site from the 1950s to the present through nine documentary-style interviews. Five are with actual residents of the site; four are fictional stories delivered by professional actors. Through this hybrid storytelling mode, Jia exposes the fictional constructs behind documentary factuality, and reflects on the performative aspects of history and memory. Courtesy of Cinema Guild. In Mandarin; English subtitles. 107 min.