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| Type | Production company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chinese cinema Hong Kong Cinema |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Jia Zhangke Yu Lik-wai Chow Keung |
Xstream Pictures is a Chinese production company, based out of Beijing and Hong Kong.
It was founded by filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Chow Keung, and Yu Lik-wai. [1]
Formed in 2003, the company's first production was Jia's own The World . [1]
It has since served as a production house for several of Jia's other films, as well as Yu Lik-wai's Plastic City .
Jia Zhangke is a Chinese-language film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dean of the Vancouver Film Academy of Shanghai University. He graduated from the Literature Department of Beijing Film Academy. He is generally regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, a group that also includes such figures as Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Wang Quan'an and Zhang Yuan.
The World is a 2004 Chinese drama written and directed by Jia Zhangke about the work and the life of several young people moving from the countryside to a world park. Starring Jia's muse, Zhao Tao, as well as Cheng Taishen, The World was filmed on and around an actual theme park located in Beijing, Beijing World Park, which recreates world landmarks at reduced scales for Chinese tourists. The World introduces new technologies like binoculars, coin-operated telescopes, digital cameras, mobile phones and digital services in the theme park as touristic tools to virtually travel around the world, emphasizing the globalization and convenience. It is a metaphor for Chinese society to experience the sense of mobility, but the knowledge is still limited domestically and the environment of simulation is seen as a sense of escaping from the real world. The World was Jia's first film to gain official approval from the Chinese government. Additionally, it was the first of his films to take place outside of his home province of Shanxi.
The United Photoplay Service Company was one of the three dominant production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other two being the Mingxing Film Company and the Tianyi Film Company, the forerunner of the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio.
Still Life is a 2006 Chinese film directed by Jia Zhangke. Shot in the old village of Fengjie, a small town on the Yangtze River which is slowly being destroyed by the building of the Three Gorges Dam, Still Life tells the story of two people in search of their spouses. Still Life is a co-production between the Shanghai Film Studio and Xstream Pictures.
Karmic Mahjong is a 2006 Chinese comedy film directed by Wang Guangli. It stars Francis Ng as a mechanic from Chengdu plagued by bad luck and Cherrie Ying as a young woman who appears to share the same affliction. The film also features cameos by the prominent Chinese directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke.
Unknown Pleasures is a 2002 Chinese film directed by Jia Zhangke, starring Wu Qiong, Zhao Weiwei and Zhao Tao as three disaffected youths living in Datong in 2001, part of the new "Birth Control" generation. Fed on a steady diet of popular culture, both Western and Chinese, the characters of Unknown Pleasures represent a new breed in the People's Republic of China, one detached from reality through the screen of media and the internet.
The BigScreen Festival or BigScreen Italia is a film festival that focuses on Chinese and Italian cinema. It was first held in 2004 in Padua, Italy, but in 2006 moved to Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Xiao Wu, also known as Pickpocket, is a 1997 Chinese drama and the first directed by Jia Zhangke. Starring Wang Hongwei in the titular role along with Hao Hongjian and Zuo Baitao, it was filmed in Fenyang, Jia's hometown, in 16 mm.
Zhao Tao is a Chinese actress. She works in China and occasionally Europe, and has appeared in 10 films and several shorts since starting her career in 1999. She is best known for her collaborations with her husband, director Jia Zhangke, including Platform (2000) and Still Life (2006). With Shun Li and the Poet (2011), she became the first Asian actress to win a prize at David di Donatello. She received two Golden Horse Award nominations for Mountains May Depart (2015) and Ash Is Purest White (2018). In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #8 on its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.
Dong is a 2006 documentary film by Chinese director, Jia Zhangke. The film follows the artist and actor Liu Xiaodong as he invites Jia to film him while he paints a group of labourers near the Three Gorges Dam and later a group of women in Bangkok. The film was produced and distributed by Jia's own production company, Xstream Pictures, based out of Hong Kong and Beijing.
Yu Lik-wai, sometimes credited as Nelson Yu, is a Hong Kong cinematographer, film director, and occasional film producer. Born in Hong Kong, Yu Lik-wai was educated at Belgium's INSAS where he graduated with a degree in cinematography in 1994. Yu has become a mainstay in both the cinemas of China and Hong Kong.
Uniform is the 2003 feature film debut of director Diao Yi'nan, who had previously worked as an established screenwriter for directors such as Zhang Yang and Shi Runjiu. The film, produced by Hu Tong Communications, was distributed via DVD in the United States by First Run Features as part of the Global Film Initiative.
24 City is a 2008 Chinese film directed and co-written by Jia Zhangke. The film follows three generations of characters in Chengdu as a state-owned factory gives way to a modern apartment complex. The film was also known as The Story of 24 City during production.
Xiao Shan Going Home is a Chinese featurette directed by Jia Zhangke. The film, running around one hour in length, was made by Jia while he was attending the Beijing Film Academy and stars his friend, classmate, and now frequent collaborator, Wang Hongwei in the titular role.
In Public is a short documentary film directed by Jia Zhangke, a Chinese cinema "Sixth Generation" movement filmmaker. In Public was shot on digital video for the 2001 Jeonju International Film Festival.
Cry Me a River is a 2008 short film directed by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. The film is a romance recounting the reunion of four college friends and lovers after ten years. The leads are played by Jia regulars Zhao Tao and Wang Hongwei, and Hao Lei and Guo Xiaodong, who starred together in Lou Ye's 2006 film Summer Palace. Jia has stated that he was inspired by the classic Chinese film Spring in a Small Town, also about the reuniting of former lovers in a rural river town in eastern China.
Bliss is a 2006 Chinese family drama film directed by Sheng Zhimin and produced by Hong Kong director Fruit Chan. The film was Sheng's first as a director, having previously served as a line producer for Chan and Jia Zhangke on films such as Durian Durian and Platform.
Plastic City is a 2008 Brazilian-Chinese-Hong Kong-Japanese thriller film directed by Yu Lik-wai.
The Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF), officially as "Pingyao Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon International Film Festival", is a film festival held in Pingyao, Shanxi, China. It was launched in October 2017 by Jia Zhangke, a Chinese film director, screenwriter and leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema and prestigious festival director Marco Müller. The festival's goal is to bring attention to works done by young, lesser known directors in the Chinese film industry, as well as to encourage communication and cooperation between Chinese and international filmmakers.
Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is a 2020 documentary film by Jia Zhangke about three authors attending a literary festival in his hometown in Shanxi.
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