One of China’s most celebrated and influential fiction directors, Wang (Beijing Bicycle, Chongqing Blues) makes place-based films that are a reflection of the country’s rapid changes and sociopolitical upheavals. His first documentary is a national portrait gallery filled with paintings that move and watch us watching them. (Wang appears briefly on screen, standing in Tiananmen Square.) Filming over the course of a decade, Wang observes his country with deep reverence and concern. The Chinese title, My Lens, is also a nod to changes in filmmaking—film changes to digital as the country itself lurches into the future. The long shots dwell on an astounding range of subjects, encompassing rural schoolchildren, factory workers, engineers, miners, farmers, bustling night markets, and many of China’s ethnic minorities. Dancers wait to take the stage, and men wash their feet in preparation for prayer. We are gripped by their stares, reminding us that we are with them in this world. (LK)