Jia Zhangke has revealed details of his next project, Mountain River Old Friend (working title), which he plans to film in China and Australia.
Announced at a press conference in Cannes on Monday (May 19), the film will be co-produced by Jia’s Xstream Pictures and Shanghai Film Group. France’s MK2 is also co-producing the project, which will have Shozo Ichiyama of Japan’s Office Kitano on board as producer.
The story begins with a young couple in 1990s China, who split up and then meet much later when the woman is divorced and her son is living in Australia. It then takes up the story of the son in Australia in the future.
Jia’s wife Zhao Tao, who has appeared in several of the director’s films, will star in his new project, which is scheduled to start shooting in October.
Xstream Pictures, Shanghai Film Group and Office Kitano produced Jia’s last film, A Touch Of Sin, which had MK2 on board as sales agent.
A Touch Of Sin won best screenplay at Cannes last year, while this year Jia has a seat on the Cannes competition jury. At last year’s Cannes, Jia and Shanghai Film Group said the film would receive a theatrical release in China, but it has still not reached Chinese theatres, although it has been widely pirated.
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