Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (simplified Chinese: 一直游到海水变蓝, pinyin: Yī zhí yóu dào hǎi shuǐ biàn lán) is a 2020 documentary film by Jia Zhangke about three authors attending a literary festival in his hometown in Shanxi.
[1] Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is organized into 18 chapters and centers on three great modern Chinese writers, Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong[1] at a literary festival which Jia organized in May 2019[2] in his hometown of Fenyang in Shanxi province.
[5] Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue was directed by Jia Zhangke, produced by Zhao Tao,[6] Xstream Pictures, Huaxia Film Distribution, Shanxi Film and Television Group, Huaxin Kylin Culture Media, Wisharty Media, Huayi Brothers Pictures,[7] Shi Dian Culture Communication, We Entertainment,[8] IQIYI pictures, and Alibaba entertainment,[9] written by Jia Zhangke and Wan Jiahuan,[6] and edited by Kong Jing-Lei.
[12] Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue has received mostly positive reviews,[13] holding a score of 69 on Metacritic[13] and 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.
[14] Many critics wrote that the film lacked the structure and contextualization necessary to be impactful,[2][9][4] while some praised its visuals and reflective nature,[6][4] with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky for The A.V.