An ambitious Sino-European historical epic spanning two continents and three decades of Silk Road diplomacy, The Jade Curtain marks Jiang Haoran’s first major international leading role and represents the largest co-production between Etoile Muse and a European studio to date.

French director Margaux Delacroix, known for her rigorous archival approach to historical narrative, spent six years researching Tang dynasty diplomatic missions to the Byzantine court before crafting a screenplay that balances grand geopolitical intrigue with deeply personal stories of exile, loyalty, and cultural collision. The production filmed across locations in Xi’an, the Taklamakan Desert, Istanbul, and the Cinecittà studios in Rome, assembling a cast and crew representing nine nationalities.

Jiang Haoran embodies General Li Zhenming with a restrained intensity that anchors the film’s sweeping narrative — a career-defining performance that moves seamlessly between Mandarin, period Court Chinese, and scenes requiring emotional communication across a language barrier with his Byzantine counterparts. His physical preparation included eight months of horseback archery training and calligraphy study, lending the role an authenticity that reviewers praised as transformative.

The Jade Curtain is scheduled for a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival before a wide theatrical release across China, Europe, and North America. Early screening responses praise the film’s breathtaking desert photography, its nuanced refusal of East-versus-West cliché, and a climactic palace sequence that has already been called one of the most visually stunning set pieces in recent epic filmmaking.