Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke is set to begin production on his next feature in December, marking a shift toward contemporary storytelling after his recent trilogy spanning decades of Chinese social change.
“My last three films tracked a long period of time from the end of the last century until the present. For my next project, I’m going to this moment contemporary film,” Jia tells Variety at the Pingyao International Film Festival, which he founded, though he declined to reveal the title.
While social change has been central to much of his work, Jia says his upcoming film takes a different approach. “The world is changing, and China is changing particularly fast. So there will be some message regarding changes, but changes will not be the focus of storytelling,” he explains.
Jia’s distribution company Unknown Pleasures Pictures has released two films in China so far: Paola Cortellesi’s Italian film “There’s Still Tomorrow” and Charlie Chaplin’s classic “Gold Rush.” The upcoming slate includes Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Kleber Mendonça Filho “The Secret Agent,” Fukada Koji’s “Love on Trial,” Miyake Sho’s “Two Seasons, Two Strangers” and Andrea Segre’s “The Great Ambition.”
“I don’t see any barrier, except that we need to raise against the films that have been leaked on the internet,” Jia says, citing online piracy as the primary challenge. “That is the lethal blow to our releases.”
His production company Wings International, focused on funding non-Chinese films, closed financing last month. “We are well set for operation,” Jia says, adding that several projects have been identified and are being finalized.
At Pingyao, Jia highlights what he sees as two key trends in Chinese cinema. The first is the rise of Chinese directors working abroad. He points to “Jet Lag in Summer” by Yan Kunao, set in the U.S., and “On the Road” by Wei Dongchen, a film made in Japan by a Hong Kong director. The second trend he notes is filmmakers entering cinema from other fields, such as “A Woman in Their Eyes” by former paraglider athlete Gu Ying and “Happy Girls” by Meng Xing, whose background is in material science.
“These new works make it increasingly difficult to define what is a Chinese film and what is an international film,” Jia says.
As Pingyao approaches its 10th anniversary next year, Jia emphasizes keeping the festival “always young, always volatile, sometimes a little temperamental” rather than becoming a “classic” institution. He says the goal is not to become “a classic film festival” but to stay young and adaptable.
“We don’t want to be old money,” he says. “We want to be flexible and nimble.”
The festival has introduced a new section for microdramas and short-form content, acknowledging their popularity in China. “Some people see the rise of such a short form series as a fanciful challenge to cinema,” Jia says. “We would like to enable filmmakers to know what short form series actually are, because many are discussing it without watching.”
Pingyao’s project market continues supporting emerging talent through two tracks: developing screenplays into films and adapting literature for cinema. This year introduced venture capital connections for short film directors, linking them with major Chinese studio executives during pitch sessions.
Jia founded the Pingyao International Film Festival in his home province of Shanxi, choosing the ancient city over modern metropolises like Beijing or Shanghai. “Unlike Beijing, Shanghai and other contemporary modern cities, Pingyao itself is an ancient city where ordinary people live,” he says, positioning the festival as encouraging films about authentic lived experiences.
The festival opened this year with a tribute to Shanxi cinema, honoring works by directors including Bernardo Bertolucci, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige that were shot in the province and inspired Jia’s own filmmaking journey.
