Jia Zhangke, one of China’s most acclaimed directors, is at the Berlin Film Festival for the world premiere of his first new documentary in a decade, “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue,” which is screening in the Berlinale Special section.

Featuring personal recollections of three of China’s most acclaimed writers, the film is the third part of a trilogy about the arts in China, following the 2005’s “Dong,” about Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong, and 2006’s “Useless,” about fashion designer Ma Ke.

Jia’s last documentary was 2011’s “I Wish I Knew,” which screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. His feature films, meanwhile, have always expressed an interest in a documentary-like realist style.

“I feel I’ve always been trying to knock down the barrier between documentary and fiction,” he told Variety.

“The most important thing about documentaries is that they help people understand and remember what we’ve lived through.