Jia Zhangke

Jia Zhangke

Still: 24 City
JIA Zhangke (1970, China) is a director, screenwriter and producer. He grew up in Fenyang, Shanxi province. He graduated from the film academy in Beijing in 1997. His first feature, Pickpocket (1998), won him awards at film festivals in Berlin, Pusan, Vancouver and others. In 1998, he received support from the Hubert Bals Fund for Platform, which was released in 2000 and nominated for the Golden Lion in Venice. He quickly became a prominent director in the international film scene, with Still Life (2006) winning the Golden Lion and film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum calling him “the most exciting mainland Chinese filmmaker currently working”. In 2015, he was awarded the Golden Coach in Cannes to honour his entire body of work, and the following year he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at Cairo International Film Festival. Jia is at the forefront of China’s indie cinema and is considered a leading director in the country’s Sixth Generation of filmmakers. In 2017, he founded Pingyao International Film Festival together with Marco Müller. He released his most expensive film to date Ash Is Purest White in 2018. It became his fifth film to be nominated for Cannes’ Golden Palm and earned him Chicago’s Silver Hugo for Best Director. His films often blur the line between fiction and documentary.

Filmography

(selection) Xiaoshan huijia/Xiao Shan Going Home (1995, short), Xiao wu/Pickpocket (1998), Zhantai/Platform (2000), In Public (2001, doc), Gou de zhuang khuang/The Condition of Dogs (2001, short doc), Ren xiao yao/Unknown Pleasures (2002), Shije/The World (2004), Dong (2006, doc), Sanxia haoren/Still Life (2006), Women de shi nian/Ten Years (2007, short), Wu yong/Useless (2007, doc), Er shi si cheng ji/24 City (2008), Heshang de aiqing/Cry Me a River (2008, short), Stories on Human Rights (2008, segment: Black Breakfast), Shia nian/Remembrance (2008, short), Hai shang chuan qi/I Wish I Knew (2010, doc), Yulu (2011, short doc, segment: Cao ), 3.11 Sense of Home (2011, doc, segment: untitled), (Tian zhu ding/A Touch of Sin (2013), Venice 70: Future Reloaded (2013, segment: untitled) Smog Journeys (2015, short), Shan he gu ren/Mountains May Depart (2015), The Hedonists (2016, short), Where Has the Time Gone? (2017, segment: Revive), Ash Is Purest White (2018) Yi ge tong/The Bucket (2019, short), Yi zhi you dao hai shui bian lan/Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020, doc), Lai fang/Visit (2020, short)

More info: Wikipedia, Jia Zhangke