Chapter 778 Film Festival

During his visit to Bicarlo, Lu Yanhe encountered more new faces than he had imagined.

In addition to the three films in the main competition, several Chinese films were shortlisted for other sections of the Picardo Film Festival. Moreover, many celebrities were invited to participate in the event due to their brand endorsements.

This year's BiCarlo Film Festival had an unusually large number of Chinese faces.

This time, Lu Yanhe did not stay in a hotel, but instead stayed in a local house.

The house was rented by an editor of a film magazine in Bikalo.

The magazine editor's name is Anna White.

In fact, she is also a very famous film critic with a great reputation in the international film circle, and her film reviews are highly regarded in the industry.

Lu Yanhe moved in because Anna White knew he would be attending the Bicarlo Film Festival and that his schedule wasn't in a rush. She contacted Lin Yu and told her that she wanted to use this opportunity to write a book about Lu Yanhe and hoped to have the chance to spend some time with him so she could understand him better.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yu thought it was a good thing and immediately contacted Chen Siqi and Chen Ziyan.

Lin Yu said, "This isn't the first time Anna White has written a biography featuring a filmmaker. Actually, her book isn't really a biography; it focuses on telling the story of a filmmaker. Two years ago, she wrote about the famous British actress Kate Russell, which received a great response. If Anna White can actually finish this book, it will have a huge impact on Yan He's standing in the critics' circle and the film industry."

Lin Yu added, "Moreover, I think this is also a good opportunity for Anna White to further understand Chinese films. The filmmakers she wrote about before, whether in articles or books, were all European and American filmmakers. She loves European and American films and has never been very interested in films from Asian countries. The first Asian film that she publicly praised was 'Three Mountains,' where she gave Yan He a very high evaluation. In fact, if it weren't for her evaluation, Yan He's performance in 'Three Mountains' might not have immediately attracted the attention of European and American critics, because everyone knows how strict Anna White is and how 'indifferent' she is to films she doesn't understand. Later, she would occasionally comment on some of Yan He's films, but apart from Yan He, she has almost no comments on Chinese films. I have also communicated with her privately, and she said that it's not that she doesn't watch Chinese films, but because she doesn't understand Chinese culture or the background of the films, she doesn't dare to speak or write about them easily, given her style."

After hearing Lin Yu's words, Lu Yanhe felt that this was indeed a very good opportunity.

Anna White's status and influence in film criticism are among the top tier internationally. Even within popular culture, this might not seem significant. However, Lu Yanhe is well aware that in the realm of artistic creation, sometimes one person's opinion is the "authoritative" opinion in that field.

Therefore, Lu Yanhe agreed to the request.

There was no compensation, no promises, and not even a so-called cooperation agreement was signed.

Lu Yanhe's car took him directly to the address Anna White had given him.

In the car, Wang Biao confirmed with Lu Yanhe, "Brother Lu, are you sure you don't need us to stay with you these days? Just in case—"

“She is Anna White, not a stranger,” Lu Yanhe said. “Moreover, she is fifty years old, and her husband and son are still alive.”

Wang Biao nodded: "Okay, I'm not worried about anything else. After all, this is BiCarlo, not China."

Lu Yanhe nodded, "That's true. I'm also worried about safety, especially that the news of me living here might get out to some media and fans, making it inconvenient for me to go out. I still need to ask Brother Dong and the others to bring bodyguards and be careful."

Zou Dong nodded and said, "No problem. We've already had people come and scout out the situation here beforehand. We have people stationed 24/7 at the coffee shop next to this apartment building and the small hotel across the street. We'll get the news if anything happens in the area. We've also rented a room in this apartment building. Wang Biao and I will stay there. We'll follow you when you go out, but please let us know in advance if you're going out."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "That's fine."

-

Lu Yanhe, carrying a suitcase, rang Anna White's doorbell.

"Hi!" Anna White had been waiting for him, and she quickly came to open the door for him after the doorbell rang.

She was a very kind and warm-hearted woman, a little plump, with light green eyes that shimmered like jewels in the sunlight.

"Lu, are you all alone?" Anna White looked at Lu Yanhe with some surprise. The empty scene behind him was not what she had expected.

“They just dropped me off and have already left,” Lu Yanhe explained. “They rented another apartment in this building, and they’ll be staying there for the time being.”

Anna White looked enlightened. "Please come in."

As soon as she stepped aside, two men standing behind her were revealed.

A handsome young man with blond hair and blue eyes, and a balding, pot-bellied man.

They must be her husband and son.

"Hi!"

Lu Yanhe greeted them one by one and introduced them to each other.

"Wow, my mom told me you were coming to stay at my house for a few days, and I didn't believe it. I didn't expect it to really be you! You really came!" Anna's son, Tucker Ortiz, was about 1.9 meters tall, thin, and very cheerful. He was very excited when he saw Lu Yanhe.

"I'll be bothering you for a while," Lu Yanhe said with a smile.

Anna's husband was named Edwin.

He seemed to be the only shy person in the family, too embarrassed to talk to Lu Yanhe, even though he looked... very rugged.

Tucker asked curiously, "Lu, did you only bring one suitcase? You're coming to the film festival, shouldn't you have many outfits?"

“Oh, those are with my assistant,” Lu Yanhe explained. “This box only contains some of my daily necessities.”

“I see.” Tucker nodded and held out his hand. “Give me the box, and I’ll take it to your room for you.”

Lu Yanhe didn't stand on ceremony and handed over the box, saying, "Thank you for your trouble."

“What’s the trouble?” Tucker cheerfully took the box, carried it with one hand, and dashed off in a flash.

Anna White and Edwin showed Lu Yanhe around the house first.

“This apartment is only a little over 130 square meters, and we bought it ten years ago,” Anna White said, “because I really like this balcony.”

Anna White pushed open a glass door leading to the balcony.

This is a large balcony of about 20 square meters. The walls on both sides are lined with bookshelves, and there is also a table and chairs, as well as a swing sofa.

The balcony is framed by floor-to-ceiling windows, but there are no dividing lines in the middle of the entire floor-to-ceiling window, allowing for an unobstructed view of the outside scenery.

It was a view that overlooked most of Picardo.

"Wow!" Lu Yanhe's eyes lit up as he looked outside. "I understand why you bought this apartment, it's so beautiful!"

Anna White said, "I really love this scenery, especially when I'm writing about it."

“This is a perspective that will give writers endless room for imagination,” Lu Yanhe said. “Can I use this space?”

Anna White: "Of course, whenever you want to use it, but do you need it in the next few days?"

Lu Yanhe nodded, "I write a script for a while every day."

Anna White: "I thought you came to the film festival and wouldn't be writing a script during this time."

"I must seize every moment when I want to write," Lu Yanhe said. "Otherwise, there are too many stories to write, and if I miss a moment when I want to write, I will write less."

Anna White: "I look forward to seeing you write the script."

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was a little surprised. "What's there to look forward to? It's just sitting in front of a laptop and typing away on the keyboard, right?"

Anna White smiled.

"Maybe this is my quirk, I like watching every writer write, even though it might seem a bit boring to others."

Lu Yanhe: "Okay, then I hope my writing won't look too bad and disappoint you."

They walked around the house together.

Overall, Lu Yanhe felt it was a very comfortable house.

The house wasn't as clean and tidy as a showroom ready for an advertisement shoot, but it wasn't overly cramped or "petty" either.

Lu Yanhe's room was about 15 square meters, not big, with a bed and a small single table.

When Tucker led him to the room, he asked, "Have you never stayed in such a small room before?"

Lu Yanhe: "Of course not. Did you go to college? Anyone who has lived in a college dormitory will not think that a private room is small."

Tucker laughed.

"I was worried you'd think the room was too small."

Lu Yanhe shrugged and shook his head.

Anna White asked, "Lu, your assistant told me that you have a gathering with a lot of Chinese filmmakers later tonight. You just came from the airport, do you want to rest for a bit?"

Lu Yanhe glanced at the time; it was already 3:30 p.m. local time.

“Okay.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “I’ll pack up first. Anna, thank you for the invitation.”

Anna White said, "I originally wanted to rent a bigger house with a yard, but Lin Yu told me that I would definitely prefer to live in a real house like this rather than a temporary, renovated one. I was very touched, Lu, that you are still willing to embrace this real life."

Lu Yanhe hugged Anna White and said, "This is an invitation I have never received before. Being invited to stay at your home as a friend from afar truly touches me. Although I still have a lot of work to do this time and cannot really live here for a while, this is an experience that I can hardly replicate."

Anna White patted Lu Yanhe's face.

"Let's keep our work to work, and hopefully this time living together will allow us to get to know each other better."

"OK."

-

Lu Yanhe washed up, took a few photos, and sent them to Chen Siqi.

Chen Siqi called immediately and asked, "How did it go?"

Lu Yanhe said, "I felt more relaxed than I expected, and I wasn't as reserved. Anna is a very warm person. Although I didn't know her before, her whole family made me feel very comfortable."

"That's fine then," Chen Siqi said. "I really didn't expect that you would actually be willing to stay at someone else's house, someone who doesn't like to cause trouble for others."

Lu Yanhe said, "This is good. I don't know if you've ever had this feeling—when watching movies or TV shows, you see someone go to another place and stay at someone else's house for a few days. They don't stay together all the time, but just when they eat, everyone sits at the table, chats, and there are acquaintances and strangers. Some interesting stories happen because everyone knows that this kind of time together is short-lived and will end. So, the mindset is different from usual. You cherish the time and every opportunity to sit together..."

Chen Siqi: "Okay, okay, I got it. You just really want to experience that 'once-in-a-lifetime' moment."

Lu Yanhe: "That's part of the idea, but it's not the main point."

"The key point is that it's a time that allows you to detach yourself from your daily life, a time that feels like a holiday, a different state of being," Chen Siqi added.

Lu Yanhe: "Yes."

Chen Siqi smiled.

-

Lu Yanhe took a short nap on the bed.

Around 5 p.m., Anna White came and knocked on the door.

Lu Yanhe opened his sleepy eyes, responded, changed his clothes, and left the room yawning.

Are you about to leave?

"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded. "Thank you for waking me up."

Anna White laughed and said, "Your assistant told me that you're the kind of person who sets an alarm but won't be woken up unless it's something urgent."

Lu Yanhe smiled helplessly.

“This is the key to our house.” Anna White handed a key to Lu Yanhe.

“Okay.” Lu Yanhe nodded.

"What time will you be back tonight?" Anna White asked.

"Around ten o'clock," Lu Yanhe said. "Anna, is this okay? Will it affect your rest?"

“No problem, they both go to bed at midnight, I’m used to it,” Anna said. “Of course, I go to bed even later.”

Lu Yanhe smiled, "That's good, I'm relieved."

He asked, "Anna, are you ready to go out now?"

“Me?” Anna was taken aback. “I don’t need to go out.”

Lu Yanhe was taken aback. "Huh? Aren't you coming with me?"

Anna was taken aback again. "Should I go with you? Oh, isn't tonight a gathering of some Chinese filmmakers? A private party?"

“Yes, but this is a private gathering. People will bring along their close friends,” Lu Yanhe said. “I thought you would be with me the whole time I’m in Bicarlo.”

Anna immediately said, "Of course I'd like that, but would it be convenient?"

“There’s nothing inconvenient about it,” Lu Yanhe said.

Anna immediately turned to Tucker and said, "Your dad has something to do tonight and can't come back. Order yourself a pizza."

Tucker: "Can't I come with you?"

Anna: "This is work."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe said, "It's alright, Tucker, come with us."

Anna: "Really? Lu, it's okay. When his dad and I are busy, he usually orders pizza by himself."

Lu Yanhe: "It's okay, Anna. Tonight is just a private party. As long as you don't feel like you're all strangers, it's fine. Tucker can attend without any problem. But just be careful. Tucker is very handsome. Maybe someone will take a liking to him and invite him to be an actor."

Tucker was beaming with excitement and said, "Mom, see, I told you I could be an actor."

Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised.

Anna said, "He always thought he was handsome enough to be an actor. I told him he didn't have the talent for acting. I saw him perform on the school drama stage, and it was a disaster."

Anna wore an expression of unbearable disapproval.

“That’s because you have too high expectations of me,” Tucker said to Lu Yanhe. “Don’t listen to her. She always uses the top geniuses to measure me and says I don’t act well. I have to say, I acted pretty well. Don’t listen to her.”

Lu Yanhe asked with a smile, "If you want to be an actor, are you studying acting?"

Tucker: "I just joined the school's drama club."

"Are you in high school... or college now?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Tucker: "In high school, I received an acceptance letter from Harvard University, and I'm going to college in the United States next year."

Lu Yanhe let out a surprised exclamation.

"Harvard? Impressive."

Tucker raised his chin with great pride.

Anna: "Be humble."

Lu Yanhe said, "There are many performance opportunities in the United States. If you really want to be an actor, you can work hard. What are you planning to study at Harvard?"

Tucker said, "The economy."

"Oh!" Lu Yanhe said, "Your grades must be very good."

“Yes.” Tucker was not modest at all.

Lu Yanhe noticed Anna White's expression and hesitated for a moment.

He smiled and said, "Can you come out with us now?"

Tucker nodded immediately.

Lu Yanhe said to Anna, "Anna, let Tucker come with us, it's really okay."

Anna White then sighed and said, "Lu, thank you."

Tucker suddenly remembered something, his eyes widening. "Should I go change into a formal suit?"

His gaze then fell on Lu Yanhe.

Why are you dressed so casually?

Lu Yanhe smiled helplessly, "Because tonight is really just a private gathering among a group of friends. There are no media, no paparazzi—there might be some at the door, but it's not a public occasion, so just relax."

-

Wow! You're the thief from Home Alone!

As soon as he entered, Tucker saw Liu Teli, and his eyes lit up as he rushed over.

Everyone else looked at the handsome blond-haired, blue-eyed boy with puzzled and unfamiliar expressions.

Liu Teli looked at him with a completely bewildered expression.

Lu Yanhe quickly went up and introduced himself as Anna's son, then hugged Liu Teli and said, "Teacher Liu, it's been a long time."

When Liu Teli saw Lu Yanhe, he immediately smiled with relief.

"It's been such a long time."

“Tucker,” Lu Yanhe introduced to them, then turned around and introduced Anna, “Anna White. You may not know her, but you must have read the magazines she edited and the commentaries she wrote.”

In reality, very few people have actually read her commentary articles.

However, no one present would give face to the people Lu Yanhe brought.

Tucker was truly uninhibited, displaying a very "socially adept" personality—what surprised Lu Yanhe the most was that he actually knew quite a few Chinese faces.

For example, when he met Jiang Yuqian, Tucker called out her character name from "The Squid Game" and asked for a photo. When he met Li Zhibai, he exclaimed, "You are the man in 'Buried Alive'!"

However, enthusiastic and cheerful young boys are sure to be liked wherever they go.

In a social situation, an overly enthusiastic person is more popular than an overly socially anxious person.

Anna watched for a while and, finding that her son hadn't caused any trouble other than being "loud" and "making too much noise," stopped paying attention and focused her attention on Lu Yanhe.

Her job was to observe and understand Lu Yanhe.

However, she encountered a problem.

When Lu Yanhe communicated with these people, he spoke Chinese.

She couldn't understand.

"..."

Fortunately, we can't judge a person solely by what they say.

She discovered that Lu Yanhe was different from the kind of artist she had imagined, especially an artist who became famous at a young age. He was very composed and at ease in these social situations.

But his composure was warm and sincere.

-

“Home Alone is really popular overseas.” Liu Teli’s agent, Wei Yutang, was also there today. He told Lu Yanhe, “After Mr. Liu came to Bicarlo, since it was his first time here, we planned to do some sightseeing. However, many people recognized him, and in the end, we couldn’t do any normal sightseeing. We rushed back to the hotel.”

Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "Teacher Liu Teli is now an international superstar! When 'On the Xunyang River' premieres, you will see how crazy the media are about Teacher Liu Teli."

Just kidding, there were only three main actors in "Home Alone," with Liu Teli playing the thief, specifically the ringleader. A film that raked in box office hits worldwide, generated massive buzz, and subsequently received a huge response on streaming platforms and television is the kind of movie that can propel an actor to stardom, no matter when it's released.

Wei Yutang said with some helplessness, "Actually, several Hollywood movies approached us this year, but Teacher Liu turned them all down."

Why did Teacher Liu decline the offer?

“Because they’re all villains,” Wei Yutang said. “Also, Mr. Liu’s English isn’t very good, so he’s not very interested in going to Hollywood to make movies. Mr. Lu, if you have the chance, I hope you can help me persuade Mr. Liu.”

Lu Yanhe: "I can't really advise him on this. Besides, if Teacher Liu really doesn't want to go to Hollywood to make movies, that's fine. He's already a performing artist in China, why should he compromise himself?"

Wei Yutang: "I admire Teacher Liu's superb acting skills. It's a pity that he gave up the opportunity to be seen by more people."

“That’s not true.” Lu Yanhe shook his head. “On the contrary, I think that with such good acting skills as Teacher Liu, we should make more art films like ‘On the Xunyang River.’ It’s too difficult for a foreign actor to make a big impact in Hollywood, but international film festivals are different. They are a stage and window to the world, and only then can acting skills like Teacher Liu’s be truly valued.”

(End of this chapter)