China's leading indie director tackles pollution
- Text by D'Arcy Doran
- Photography by Greenpeace
In Jia Zhangke’s last feature film, A Touch of Sin, the director who spent his career defying China’s film censors, put a spotlight on the costs to society when those in charge are blinded by their pursuit of money — corruption, gun violence, factory worker suicides. And he did it with a style comparable to a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Now in Smog Stories, his latest short film, Jia sets his sights on an even bigger target: China’s worsening pollution problem. Exponential factory expansion and explosive growth in car ownership combined with lax environmental controls mean more than a quarter of a million people in some of China’s major cities could face premature death because of high levels of air pollution, according to projections by Peking University. Last month, Beijing’s mayor complained smog was making the capital unliveable.
Jia, who was born in a coal-mining town and whose father died of lung cancer, enlists his painter’s eye and his technique of blending documentary and feature filmmaking-style in this latest film for Greenpeace.
Latest on Huck

Meet the trans-led hairdressers providing London with gender-affirming trims
Open Out — Since being founded in 2011, the Hoxton salon has become a crucial space the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Hannah Bentley caught up with co-founder Greygory Vass to hear about its growth, breaking down barbering binaries, and the recent Supreme Court ruling.
Written by: Hannah Bentley

Gazan amputees secure Para-Cycling World Championships qualification
Gaza Sunbirds — Alaa al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour earned Palestine’s first-ever top-20 finish at the Para-Cycling World Cup in Belgium over the weekend.
Written by: Isaac Muk

New documentary revisits the radical history of UK free rave culture
Free Party: A Folk History — Directed by Aaron Trinder, it features first-hand stories from key crews including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and Circus Warp, with public streaming available from May 30.
Written by: Isaac Muk

Rahim Fortune’s dreamlike vision of the Black American South
Reflections — In the Texas native’s debut solo show, he weaves familial history and documentary photography to challenge the region’s visual tropes.
Written by: Miss Rosen

Why Katy Perry’s space flight was one giant flop for mankind
Galactic girlbossing — In a widely-panned, 11-minute trip to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘Women’s World’ singer joined an all-female space crew in an expensive vanity advert for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains its apocalypse indicating signs.
Written by: Emma Garland

Katie Goh: “I want people to engage with the politics of oranges”
Foreign Fruit — In her new book, the Edinburgh-based writer traces her personal history through the citrus fruit’s global spread, from a village in China to Californian groves. Angela Hui caught up with her to find out more.
Written by: Katie Goh