Matthieu Laclau, a French film editor who has worked with big Chinese directors like Jia Zhangke, talked at Filmart 2026 about how the Chinese film industry is changing and how AI could change things even more. Laclau talked about changes in the industry at the Hong Kong event, almost twenty years after moving to Beijing.
Laclau has worked on well-known movies like Jia Zhangke’s A Touch of Sin (which won the Golden Horse for Best Editing) and Mountains May Depart. His work includes premieres at Cannes like Ash Is Purest White, The Wild Goose Lake, and more recent projects with Cutting Edge Films in Taipei. He talked about how to adjust to Asia’s fast-paced production environment at Filmart.
Laclau called AI a “looming shadow” that changed post-production as China quickly adopted new technologies for virtual production and efficiency. He said that AI improves accuracy in tasks like continuity, but that people are better at telling stories and performing. This is happening at the same time that Filmart is focusing on Asian cinema’s financing and technology trends.
The 30th Filmart is happening at the same time as the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival. Both events will focus on new ideas and changes in the market. Laclau’s speech makes it clear that editors are worried about how AI will affect the way Chinese movies are made.
