Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke’s series continues at AFS with this tale of a miner and nurse looking for their spouses in the town of Fengjie, which has been almost demolished by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Zhangke’s signature dreamlike treatment aestheticizes the attempt to pick through the rubble for what might remain (of a relationship, of a society) in the wake of ruthless economic extraction. If you watched Caught by the Tides last year and were intrigued by the snippets of beautiful cinematography at the dam, watch this to restore its context. – Lina Fisher
