Jia Zhangke Preps 'Mamma Dunhuang' After Pingyao Festival

Jia Zhangke is set to begin location scouting and production design for his next film, Mamma Dunhuang, once the 10th Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival wraps on Sept. 30. The director founded the festival, which he remains closely involved with.

Mamma Dunhuang is a road movie about a woman who drives from Dunhuang in western China to the sea. Zhao Tao will lead the cast, and the film is scheduled to shoot in early winter.

Jia has said he will not use AI in making the film, though AI plays a role in its story. The festival itself has engaged with the technology: for its fifth edition, it partnered with visual artist Xu Bing on an AI filmmaking project called AI-IF.

This year's official Pingyao program features 51 films, and the festival's online ticketing system logged more than 70 million visits. Organizers are also working on building an additional theater with 300-500 seats inside the ancient city walls.

Separately, Jia co-founded the Chinese art-house distributor Unknown Pleasures, which is negotiating to acquire two Cannes titles. In June, the company announced deals for Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur and Marine Atlan's debut feature La Gradiva.