Renowned director Jia Zhangke denounces piracy of new film and hopes audiences will go to the cinema

On November 18, according to domestic media reports, the well-known director Jia Zhangke said in an interview recently that he does not mind his movies being distracted by short videos.

"I also like watching short videos, which can convey information in a concentrated way and form a language."

In the past two years, cinema audiences have been slowly declining, and many industry insiders attribute this to competition from short videos, games and other products, but Jia Zhangke feels that this is an adjustment period for the film industry.

Earlier, Jia Zhangke posted on his personal social media platform: "One day before the release date of The Young Masters, pirated copies began to be leaked online. The fact that a pirated copy of the film was leaked before its release was like a bolt from the blue for us. We hired two rights protection teams to work day and night, but they were still powerless in the face of the Internet."

"As a director, I am very conflicted. If I speak out immediately, I am afraid that I will be advertising for piracy. If I don't speak out, I will feel unwilling. The situation has not improved much. Seeing netizens still exchanging pirated resources online, and some platforms even have people selling movie links, I feel heartbroken. I think I still need to tell you: As a filmmaker, I have a humble request."

Jia Zhangke admitted that the film encountered a piracy crisis on the day it was scheduled for release, which made him quite embarrassed, but he could only cheer up and "try hard to find our audience."