Play the Part: Insights from Jia Zhang-Ke and Rafael Manuel

In partnership with Rolex, TIFF proudly presents a special conversation with two participants of the Rolex mentoring programme: Mentor Jia Zhang-Ke (Caught by the Tides, A Touch of Sin, Still Life) and Protégé Rafael Manuel (Filipiñana, 102 Narra). Directors Jia and Manuel join TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey to provide insights into their creative exchanges, their approach to documenting social and political change in their respective countries, and the highly collaborative process of making films — regardless of their length.

This event includes an exclusive excerpt from Manuel’s upcoming feature Filipiñana, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Jia’s Festival Selection Caught by the Tides, captured over the past two years as part of the Rolex mentoring programme.

Rolex is dedicated to encouraging individual excellence and achievement and believes in giving emerging artists time to learn, create, and grow. In 2002, the company established a mentoring programme that was specifically set up to enable an exchange between different generations of artists, to assist in perpetuating the world’s cultural heritage. The idea was to seek out gifted young talents from all over the world and pair them with world-renowned artists in architecture, dance, film, literature, music, theatre, and visual arts for a period of creative collaboration in a one-to-one mentoring relationship.

Jia Zhang-Ke

Considered one of today’s most daring Chinese filmmakers, Jia Zhang-Ke is a leading figure in the post-1990 Sixth Generation of Chinese directors. A Rolex Testimonee, his early films, known as the Shanxi trilogy, captured moments of transition in Chinese society. Jia’s Still Life won the Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, and he was named Best Director at the 2007 Asian Film Awards. Among his award-winning films are A Touch of Sin (2013), Mountains May Depart (2015), and Ash is Purest White (2018). Caught by the Tides premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, Jia founded the Pingyao International Film Festival.

Rafael Manuel

Filipino filmmaker Rafael Manuel, who is based in Amsterdam, London, and Manila, has grounded his creations in the study of philosophy. Manuel won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival for his short film Filipiñana (2020). He is an alumnus of La Cinef’s Résidence programme, Berlinale Talents, Locarno Filmmakers Academy, BFI Network, Oxbelly Lab, and Talents Tokyo. He is currently working on his first two feature films: Filipiñana (financed by Film4 in the United Kingdom) and Patrimonio (supported by the Hubert Bals Fund). Manuel is the co-founder of Idle Eye Productions.