Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke has finished shooting a short film in Italy, commissioned and produced by Carlo Chatrian, director of the National Museum of Cinema in Turin.
Jia (“Still Life”, “A Touch of Sin”) revealed this at a wide-ranging masterclass organized by the Asian Film Awards Academy, and held at a packed Grand Theatre in Hong Kong March 15.
“My latest short film was my first experience of shooting in Italy,” said Jia. “And I think it is quite similar with shooting in Beijing and Shanxi. I do not treat myself as an outsider or foreigner. So I did not experience much obstacles.”
As one of China’s noted Sixth-Generation directors, Jia has distinguished himself as an often eager adopter of new technologies. He waded into the debate on generative AI filmmaking by likening its adoption to the transition from film to digital cinematography in the early 2000s.
“I do not like to innovate for the sake of innovating. I don’t like superficial innovation. I have witnessed the transition from films to digital production,” said Jia.
“And now AI has come. I have produced two to three AI films, short films. I wanted to produce another one by AI so that I will be there to judge whether it works or not. And the conversations, the dialogues are generated by AI using my voice.”
He also sounded caution about the backlash from film workers about the use of AI in the film industry.
“Regarding new technology, I will not form a judgment first. I will try to see more understanding first. There are a lot of pros and cons. We should not rush to negate them. Of course, there will be problems, there will be issues. But then these problems can be solved by many methods, for example, by legislation,” said Jia.
“We should first get more understanding before we come to any conclusion. When there are new things arising, I think this is the right approach of showing respect.”
In a languid session reminiscent of one of his films, Jia took the audience through a multitude of topics, from the difficulties of accessing foreign films during his childhood and student life, through the start of his eventual career-long collaboration with Hong Kong DP Yu Lik-wai, best practices as a film director and the process of looking for investment.
“Yu Lik-wai studied film in Belgium. After I graduated, told Yu Lik-wai I wanted to make a short film. So he moved from Hong Kong to Beijing. He thought that it is important for him to come to my living place to get a better understanding. Then I think that is part of our collaboration. At that time we were very young and we were willing to get into each other’s world, each other’s life. Actually, Yu had never lived on the mainland before, but for the sake of entering the director’s world [he did]. At that time it was Chinese New Year and together we went back to my hometown in Shanxi Province, and then during CNY all of a sudden, I decided to produce [my first film] ‘Xiao Wu.’”
Jia offered some practical tips for a long career in filmmaking.
“If you respect this work of filmmaking, you have to make sure you have good physical condition. When I studied in the Beijing Film Academy there was an old professor, Professor Lin, whom I would see running every day. When I asked him why, he replied, ‘Because very soon I am going to produce a movie, I have to make sure that I have good physique.’ So that was very influential to me. Here is an elderly person who runs in the morning for the sake of filmmaking,” Jia said.
In response to questions from the youthful Asian Film Awards Academy audience, Jia also offered a glimpse into his scripting process. The auteur revealed that he started his day at 6 a.m. with a morning run, and then worked on his scripts until 11 a.m.
“That early time in the morning, that is the golden period for me to write scripts,” said Jia. “Sometimes you may not be able to come up with even one word. But if you sit there for three hours, that period is a time for you to feel and to think and to imagine. It is a continuous process. That’s now I make sure that I keep on creating.”
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