The National Film Administration has officially announced the registration and approval of the script outline for the film "Dunhuang Mama" by Jia Zhangke on July 2026. The registered synopsis outlines a highly contemporary setting: a lonely mother living in Dunhuang gradually becomes fond of using artificial intelligence. She initially uses AI to alleviate loneliness and understand the outside world, and eventually embarks on a journey from the west to the east, crossing the entire country. According to Douban, the film stars Zhao Tao and Liao Fan, and is expected to be released in 2027.

This project marks that the topic of AI is gradually moving from technology reporting and industry analysis into the core narrative of serious auteur films. Jia Zhangke has always been skilled at reflecting the changes of the era through the fate of ordinary people. From "Still Life" to "Ash Is Purest White," his lens has always focused on individuals overlooked by grand narratives. Placing "a lonely mother" and "artificial intelligence" side by side, in a way, responds to a real social issue of today: as technology penetrates daily life at an unprecedented speed, does it intensify loneliness or become a bridge for marginalized groups to connect with the world?

AI Enters Auteur Films: A New Question of Technology and Humanity

The setting of "Dunhuang Mama" is thought-provoking: AI does not appear as a villain trying to replace humans, but rather as a companion and a window to the outside world. A lonely elderly woman in a small western city reestablishes her connection with the outside world through conversational AI, and finally takes the step to travel across China—this dual displacement of space and mind triggered by technology precisely aligns with the recurring theme of "migration" in Jia Zhangke's works. In a public discourse filled with AI anxiety, a realist director chooses to handle this subject with a warm rather than warning perspective, which itself is a statement.