Although artists in rapidly developing China enjoy more freedom than they ever have before, they also face problems they never anticipated. In Robert Adanto's documentary The Rising Tide, performance and video artist Chen Quilin, anime-inspired video artist Cao Fei, conceptual photographer Wang Qingsong, and a wide array of other Chinese artists speak of the spiritual and intellectual dilemmas they face in a society where almost everything is in constant flux. Adanto's surprisingly grim film highlights both the vitality and urgency of China's burgeoning new culture while allowing its subjects to speak of the darker and more painful aspects of change.