"The dean of Chinese independent cinema, Jia's latest bulletin on the state of the world's most rapidly expanding economy is more obviously documentary than the director's previous fiction films--or perhaps more obviously fictional than his documentaries.  24 City takes as its subject a gigantic Chengdu munitions plant slated for conversion into high-rise luxury apartments. A half-dozen retired workers, brought form all over China to labor in the massive factory, play themselves as the (barely) living monuments of Mao's China, their stories supplemented by monologues delivered by several professional actors, including Joan Chen.  Jia's framing is, as always, impeccable.  His oral history of post-revolutionary China is artfully composed, rich in offbeat details and punctuated with pop songs, including the Internationale." --New York Film Festival.

Selected Filmography: Platform (00), Unknown Pleasures (02), The World (04), Still Life (06), Useless (07).

This year's Chinese submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar--a rare documentary in a category dominated by narrative films--offers a fascinating, human perspective on Beijing's preparations for the 2008 Olympics.  Filmed over the course of five years, Dream Weavers follows five interwoven story lines: the plight of one of the 4,000 families who were relocated to make room for the Olympic Village; the construction of the innovative, welded-steel Bird's Nest stadium; the grueling regime of young female gymnasts; the training of hurdler Liu Xiang; and the training of the Beijing SWAT team.

First feature film.