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Jia Zhangke

Producer, Director, Writer, Actor, Editor

May 24, 1970 (55 years)
Jia Zhangke (Chinese: 贾樟柯; pinyin: Jiǎ Zhāngkē, born 24 May 1970; Fenyang) is a Chinese film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dean of the Vancouver Film School of Shanghai University. He graduated from the Literature Department of Beijing Film Academy. He is generally regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, a group that also includes such figures as Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Wang Quan'an and Zhang Yuan.

Jia's early films, a loose trilogy based in his home province of Shanxi, were made outside of China's state-run film bureaucracy, and therefore are considered "underground" films. Beginning in 2004, Jia's status in his own country rose when he was allowed to direct his fourth feature film, The World, with state approval. Jia's films have received critical praise and have been recognized internationally, notably winning the Venice Film Festival's top award Golden Lion for Still Life. He received the Leopard of Honour at the Locarno Film Festival in 2010, the Carrosse d'Or lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015, and an honorary award at the Visions du Réel in 2024. Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek hailed him as "one of the top directors in the world today.".

Known For

  • A Touch of Sin
    A Touch of Sin2013
  • Ash Is Purest White
    Ash Is Purest White2018
  • Still Life
    Still Life2006
  • Mountains May Depart
    Mountains May Depart2015
  • Pickpocket
    Pickpocket1999
  • Platform
    Platform2001
  • The World
    The World2004
  • Memoria
    Memoria2021
  • Unknown Pleasures
    Unknown Pleasures2002
  • 24 City
    24 City2008
  • Caught by the Tides
    Caught by the Tides2024
  • Black Dog
    Black Dog2024
  • I Wish I Knew
    I Wish I Knew2010
  • Dong
    Dong2006
  • Mr. Tree
    Mr. Tree2011
  • Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
    Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue2020
  • Dead Pigs
    Dead Pigs2018
  • Useless
    Useless2008
  • Plastic City
    Plastic City2008
  • The Hedonists
    The Hedonists2016

Filmography

2026
Filipiñana · as Executive Producer
2024
Caught by the Tides · as Executive Producer
2022
Home · as Executive Producer
2021
White Building · as Co-Producer
2021
Memoria · as Co-Producer
2021
Tomorrow Will Be Fine · as Executive Producer
2020
The Best Is Yet to Come
2020
Tracing Her Shadow · as Executive Producer
2020
The Calming
2018
Ash Is Purest White · as Executive Producer
2018
Dead Pigs · as Executive Producer
2017
Where Has the Time Gone?
2016
Life After Life · as Executive Producer
2015
Mountains May Depart · as Executive Producer
2015
K
2013
A Touch of Sin · as Executive Producer
2013
Forgetting to Know You
2012
Fidaï
2012
Memories Look at Me
2011
Mr. Tree · as Executive Producer
2008
Perfect Life · as Co-Producer
2008
24 City
2008
Plastic City
2006
Still Life · as Co-Producer
2006
Walking on the Wild Side
2003
All Tomorrow's Parties · as Associate Producer
1998
Pickpocket