Jia Zhangke Cannes Short ‘Torino Shadow’ Boarded by MK2 (EXCLUSIVE)

French powerhouse MK2 Films has secured worldwide rights to “Torino Shadow,” a 32-minute short by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke that is set to screen in the Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival.

The acquisition deepens a major director partnership for MK2, which now handles eight titles from Jia’s catalogue, along with Walter Salles’ documentary portrait “Jia Zhangke, a Guy from Fenyang.”

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Starring regular Jia collaborator Zhao Tao, “Torino Shadow” moves between China and Turin and emerged from Torino Encounters, a short-film commissioning initiative run by Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema that draws on the institution’s archives and collections as creative raw material.

“I make films, but first and foremost I am a film lover,” said Jia. “I’ve long wanted to make a film paying tribute to the art of cinema, but I never knew where to start. In 2025, Carlo Chatrian reached out to me with the idea of making a short film in tribute to the art of film. I immediately accepted his invitation, and I would like to use this short film to confess my love of cinema and the filmmakers I so deeply adore.”

“On the 25th anniversary of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, we launched a project called Torino Encounters that aims to use the museum, its archives, and its collections as material for short films,” said Carlo Chatrian, director of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema and one of the film’s executive producers. “When he sent me a first draft of the script, I was totally surprised. ‘Torino Shadow’ is an ideal way to promote the museum as a place that not only preserves the memory of cinema but also inspires new creations.”

Jia Zhangke’s filmography spans more than two decades of essential world cinema, ranging from “Xiao Wu” (Pickpocket) (Berlinale 1998) and “Still Life,” which won the Venice Golden Lion in 2006, to “A Touch of Sin” (Cannes best screenplay 2013) and most recently “Caught by the Tides,” which competed at Cannes in 2024.

“Jia Zhangke is one of the great filmmakers of our time, and we are proud to continue building his presence internationally with ‘Torino Shadow,'” said Nathanaël Karmitz, CEO of MK2 Films. “This new work reinforces the singularity, consistency and global relevance of his most unique cinema.”

“Torino Shadow” is the second film in the Torino Encounters series, following Heinz Emigholz’s “Ecce Mole,” which bowed at the New York Film Festival in 2025. Radu Jude’s “Trailer for Dante’s ‘Paradiso'” is the next commission in the series, with a premiere expected before year’s end.

At Cannes 2026, MK2 films carries five competition titles: “Minotaur” by Andrey Zvyagintsev, “The Birthday Party” by Léa Mysius, “Gentle Monster” by Marie Kreutzer, “Nagi Notes” by Fukada Koji and “The Man I Love” by Ira Sachs. The company’s slate also includes “Ben’Inama” by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo in Un Certain Regard, “Madame” by Hélène Rosselet-Ruiz as a special screening and “La Gradiva” by Marine Atlan in the Directors’ Fortnight.