Jia
Zhangke

Indie film icon Jia spent the last five years working alongside former Locarno and Venice Film Festival head Marco Muller to establish the Pingyao International Film Festival in his native Shanxi province, turning it into one of the country’s most professionally run showcases for emerging talent. He unexpectedly declared in fall 2020 that he was quitting the festival, but then announced in 2021 that he will in fact return as its so-called “chief experience officer.” His focus has shifted to kicking off his latest venture, the Shanxi Film Academy, where he has recruited a number of China’s top names to teach as the school’s dean. Jia’s latest work, 2020 documentary “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue,” about the life stories of three renowned Chinese authors, released in 2021.