CPH:DOX 2025 – Caught by the Tides / 风流一代

A plot that can be explained in a single sentence sets the minimalist action in motion in Jia Zhang-ke’s masterful new film. The woman Qiaoqiao is travelling through modern China to search for her missing husband, who left their shared hometown of Datong without a word to try his luck in a bigger city. Qiaoqiao wants to find her husband, but the journey is the actual destination in ‘Caught by the Tides’ – an impressionistic and truly magnificent film that balances between documentary and fiction, consisting of footage shot over more than 20 years by Jia Zhang-ke with his wife Zhao Tao in the role of Qiaoqiao. Since its premiere at Cannes, it has been hailed by the critics around the world as one of the best films of the year.