{"id":613386,"date":"2026-09-27T13:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T13:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/613386\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T13:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T13:24:15","slug":"jia-zhangke-readies-mamma-dunhuang-rules-out-ai-in-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/613386\/","title":{"rendered":"Jia Zhangke Readies ‘Mamma Dunhuang,’ Rules Out AI in Production"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJia Zhangke<\/a> will turn his attention to location scouting and production design for his next film, road movie \u201cMamma Dunhuang,\u201d once the 10th Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival wraps on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs revealed by Variety<\/a>, the film follows a woman who drives from Dunhuang, in western China near Central Asia, all the way to the sea. It is set to shoot in early winter.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI really love western China, and I go to Dunhuang quite often. Dunhuang was a vital transit hub on the ancient Silk Road, keep going west and you can arrive in Rome. Yet, it is so far from the ocean,\u201d Jia tells Variety. \u201cSo this whole film is a continental story that starts in Dunhuang and travels from the west to the eastern coastline \u2013 she drives until the sea comes into view.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tZhao Tao, who won the David di Donatello Award for best actress for \u201cShun Li and the Poet,\u201d will once again lead a Jia film, playing a homebound woman who uses AI to help her on the journey.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI will not use AI in making \u2018Mamma Dunhuang,’\u201d Jia says. \u201cIt only plays a role in the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJia founded the Pingyao festival, which marks its 10th edition this year. He says that although it\u2019s only been a decade, \u201cthe changes in the broader film ecosystem and the media landscape, as well as technological advancements, are drastic. Pingyao has remained nimble. We\u2019ve been able to adapt continuously alongside the shifts in the film industry and surrounding media, capturing new developments for our curation. Looking ahead, I believe cinema will continue to evolve rapidly, so we will maintain this festival\u2019s agility in the future. That very flexibility allows us to respond in real time to the most pressing cinematic and cultural topics on people\u2019s minds today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJia wants Pingyao to remain a haven for cinephiles rather than a hall of fame. Where most international festivals program hundreds of films, he intends to keep Pingyao\u2019s lineup lean, built around the year\u2019s newest boutique titles, so the spotlight falls on the selected films and helps them reach the market. This year\u2019s official program has just 51 films.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs a festival, not only must it have great programs, but also a vibe of equality, freedom, and ease, setting a tone where the filmmakers and audiences can merge together,\u201d Jia says. \u201cWe put effort into bringing in films with great artistic value, and meanwhile cover as many countries and regions as possible, prioritizing regions less familiar to Chinese audiences, such as northeastern Europe and South America, hoping to introduce a broader spectrum of cinema to the Chinese audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPingyao\u2019s online ticketing system logged more than 70 million visits this year.<\/p>\n

\n\tJia says part of the problem is Pingyao\u2019s limited capacity, as the ancient city \u201cis protected as a UNESCO World Heritage [Site]. We\u2019ve been working on building one more theater, ideally inside the ancient city walls, with 300\u2013500 seats to enlarge the capacity. But it is very difficult to realize this plan, we are still discussing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor its fifth edition, the festival partnered with visual artist Xu Bing on \u201cAI-IF,\u201d a project that invited audiences to make films using AI. Jia says the festival\u2019s AI projects have all been exhibitions, and none of this year\u2019s official selections were made with AI.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve been prudent,\u201d Jia says. \u201cBut we maintain an open, observant, and inclusive stance toward AI. When it comes to technology advancement, each of us holds a different perspective, but there should be one fundamental attitude: we must understand and discuss it, not shy away from it. Pingyao upholds a spirit of prudent inclusivity.\u201d Earlier this year, Jia created an AI-generated video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tJia also co-founded Unknown Pleasures<\/a>, a Chinese art-house distributor named after his 2002 film, and says the company is negotiating to acquire two Cannes titles. In June, it announced deals for Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev\u2019s \u201cMinotaur\u201d and French cinematographer Marine Atlan\u2019s debut feature \u201cLa Gradiva.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe hope Unknown Pleasures\u2019 acquired titles all have a great showcase in Pingyao,\u201d Jia says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jia Zhangke will turn his attention to location scouting and production design for his next film, road movie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,179659,409,111,139,69,302080,302081],"class_list":["post-613386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-jia-zhangke","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pingyao-international-film-festival","tag-unknown-pleasures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}