Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke took the stage at the Venice Film Festival for a wide-ranging masterclass that spanned his career, his parallel work as a distributor, and his thoughts on the future of cinema in the age of AI .

Jia, who first attended Venice in 2000 with his second feature “Platform” and later won the Golden Lion in 2006 for “Still Life,” spoke candidly about his expanded role in the Chinese film industry beyond directing. In early 2025, he co-founded Unknown Pleasures Pictures with veteran distributor Tian Qi to bring international art films into the Chinese market.

“I have no knowledge or experience in distribution, but I’m also a film fan,” Jia said, explaining that the venture grew out of both passion and necessity. “China has more than 80,000 screens. We need more

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