Born in Fenyang, a small town in North China's Shanxi Province,
China's sixth Venice Golden Lion winner Jia Zhangke finished his
first short film Xiaoshan Goes Home (Xiaoshan
Huijia) in 1995 as a literature major while studying at the
Beijing Film Academy.
What won him international renown was Xiao Wu, a film
about a pickpocket in Fenyang, Jia's own hometown. The crude but
moving feature won Jia the Netpac Award and the Wolfgang Staudte
Award at the 1998 Berlin International Film Festival.
From 2000 to 2002, Jia shot two films, still focusing on the
lives of ordinary people in Fenyang, namely Platform
(Zhantai) and Unknown Pleasures
(Renxiaoyao).
In 2004, Jia turned to people living in the city rather than
those in small towns for the first time. The World
(Shijie) about two migrant workers in a troupe in
Beijing's World Park wins Jia a nomination of the Golden Lion in
2005 Venice festival.
After Still Life (Sanxia Haoren), Jia is
planning his next film The Age of Tattoo (Ciqing
Shidai). It will be a story of two youngsters in 1975, one
year before the ending of the "cultural revolution. "
(China Daily December 8, 2006)