Chapter 443 Cultural War

"I wanted to ask just now." Taking advantage of the opening song and dance on the stage, Guo Fan looked at Meng Bai: "Why do you say that we have the highest chance of winning the award tonight?"

The main hall of the newly built Straits Grand Theater is very large and can accommodate tens of thousands of people at the same time. Although the crew of "The Wandering Earth" is located in the first few rows, with such a large venue, there is no need to worry about chatting and talking.

Hearing Guo Fan's question, Meng Bai said leisurely: "It's very simple. Think about the time node of this year's Golden Rooster Awards, think about the location of the host city, and then think about why the reform is needed this year."

"Just put it bluntly, boss, let's not have these riddles, okay?"

"Okay, okay, no more jokes." Meng Bai said: "But I have to say one thing first, these are just my guesses."

After emphasizing this sentence, he continued: "In addition to the Golden Rooster Awards, there is another award that is also held today. You know, right?"

Guo Fan frowned: "Are you talking about the Golden Horse Awards?"

Meng Bai nodded: "Yes, from the changes in the time and location of the event, it can be seen that this year's Golden Rooster Awards is aimed at the Golden Horse. Of course, it's not just that."

Just like the "Three Major European Film Awards" of Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, the Chinese film industry has also had the "Three Chinese Golds" of Golden Horse, Golden Image, and Golden Rooster for decades.

Because of the frequency of the Golden Rooster Awards every two years and the strict review requirements, the range of films nominated has always been limited. With the decline of Hong Kong films and the attitude of being complacent, the Golden Horse Awards have gradually become a "self-entertainment" within Hong Kong films.

Therefore, in the past 10 to 20 years, it is the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan that have the greatest influence and the highest gold content. In its heyday, it can really be called the "highest award for Chinese-language films."

However, with the rapid rise of the mainland film market, various large-scale, high-grossing films have emerged in an endless stream, and the Golden Rooster Awards are more tolerant of commercial films, so its influence has slowly increased in recent years.

However, the Golden Horse Awards, which caused such a big storm, did not say anything afterwards, issued a bland statement, and then responded with silence, with an arrogant attitude.

Perhaps the status of the boss of Chinese-language films for more than a decade has given them an illusion and misunderstood their own strength. Immediately afterwards, a wave of boycotts against the Golden Horse Awards began from top to bottom on the mainland.

This year's Golden Rooster Awards chose to be held on the same day as the Golden Horse Awards, and the venue was chosen to be Xiamen, which is across the sea from Taiwan. The name of the venue is also called "Strait Grand Theater", which can be said to have pulled all kinds of relevance.

Obviously, one of the main purposes of this year's Golden Rooster Awards is to surpass the Golden Horse Awards and become the new "Chinese film award decision maker" through this reform.

However, this is only the first purpose of the Golden Rooster Awards. The second purpose is to target the increasingly serious unrest in Hong Kong this year.

Compared with the problems in Formosa, the problems in Hong Kong are obviously bigger. After all, the former has been causing us trouble for decades, and everyone is used to having an additional Golden Horse Awards.

Therefore, this year's Golden Rooster Awards also sent a signal to Hong Kong at the level of film and television literature and art.

It is precisely for this reason that although there are not many Hong Kong films nominated this year, there are still a large number of Hong Kong filmmakers who came to the Golden Rooster Awards tonight to express their attitudes. It

is still not over here. This year's Golden Rooster Awards have undergone great changes. From the form of the event, to the venue, to various large-scale investments and model innovations, it can be seen that the ceremony is extremely important.

And this is obviously related to the current confrontation between the East and the West.

The confrontation between major powers in the 21st century is no longer decided on the battlefield as it was a hundred years ago. On the contrary, with the advent of the Internet age, various seemingly civilized but actually more cruel "soft wars" have begun.

From "economic wars" to "trade wars", to "information wars", to the core "war of culture and consciousness". Although there is no bloodshed on these battlefields, the results are deadly.

This is what the West often calls "peaceful evolution".

There are many forms of cultural battles, from the struggle for various discourse rights to the establishment of national image, from the discussion of foreign ideas to the struggle for entertainment methods.

This year is a special year. The strength and momentum displayed by the National Day military parade shocked all countries in the world, representing that China has reached a sufficient level in terms of hard power.

Then the next thing to improve is naturally various cultural soft power.

And movies, or the film and television industry, is one of them.

At this time, the Golden Rooster Award, which represents the highest award in the domestic film and television industry, has made various innovations for the first time. It is both a challenge to all those with bad intentions and an invitation to supporters.

This can be seen from the four words "Chinese Film" that have been mentioned continuously since the opening of the ceremony tonight.

The Golden Rooster Awards, which carries an important political mission, cannot help but be affected in the selection of the winners.

Meng Bai spread his palms and said to Guo Fan: "There are five nominees for the grand prize, except us. Gutian Military Call is a mainstream theme, but it is too historical; So Long, My Son is about the changes of the times, and the theme is sensitive; Us and Them is a romance, but the scale is too small; I Am Not the God of Medicine is a realistic theme, and the tone is too sad."

Every time he mentioned a movie, he bent a finger, and in the end only the thumb was left standing.

"Among the nominated films, only Operation Red Sea is similar to ours. But in comparison, the concept of 'community of human destiny' in The Wandering Earth is undoubtedly better."

Meng Bai broke off his last finger and slammed his fist on the armrest: "That's why I said that not only do we need the Golden Rooster Awards, but the Golden Rooster Awards also need us. If nothing unexpected happens, our chances of winning the award are at least 60-70%. "

"Only 60-70%!"

Zhao Jinmai, who had been eavesdropping on the side, suddenly said: "Brother, you have been talking so passionately for a long time, I thought it was a done deal."

Meng Bai and Guo Fan laughed together after hearing this.

"Maimai, don't underestimate 60-70%. With six nominated films, this probability is already very high." Guo Fan said: "Don't say that, according to what your brother Meng Bai said, we do have great hope."

Zhao Jinmai thought about it and felt that it made sense. When I was doing multiple-choice questions in the exam, I might not get all four options, not to mention that now I have to choose one out of six options.

"But-" she suddenly said again: "If the grand prize is ours, then the best director will not be given to us."

"This..." Guo Fan was speechless. He really hadn't thought about this.

Meng Bai affirmed Zhao Jinmai's words: "Maimai is right. The jury of these films will definitely make it equal. Those technical awards don't count. Among the final awards, each film will definitely get one."

From the perspective of the entire film, the final award is definitely the best, which represents the affirmation of the overall quality of the entire film. But from the director's personal point of view, "Best Director" is obviously more exciting. However,

most award ceremonies in the world are based on equal treatment. Unless there is an indisputably strong film in that session, it is difficult to have the possibility of sweeping all the awards.

"The Wandering Earth" is indeed great. It has opened a new chapter in domestic science fiction, expanded the genre and subject matter boundaries of domestic films, and proved to the world film market that Chinese-language films are not only about kung fu, history or "bottom-level pain", we also have the stars and the sea.

But this does not mean that this film has overwhelming strength. The Golden Rooster Award is still a film award after all. From the perspective of the film itself, "The Wandering Earth" is just an excellent science fiction film.

Guo Fan was quite open-minded. He waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "It's okay. We will definitely win the big prize if we can. I'm not going to stop making movies in the future. There are plenty of opportunities to win awards."

"Brother Guo, you're so generous!" Meng Bai patted him on the shoulder. "We've also signed up for the Hundred Flowers Awards next year. They value popularity more. I'll help you work hard then."

"The Hundred Flowers Awards... we'll see when the time comes." Guo Fan smacked his lips. Obviously, he didn't have much expectation for the Hundred Flowers Awards.

Indeed, compared with the professionalism of the Golden Rooster Awards, the Hundred Flowers Awards were initially positioned as "mass participation and public voting." To put it in a more modern way, it is a "popularity award."

For professional filmmakers, it's really good to win this kind of award, but there's nothing to regret if you don't win it.

Especially since the Hundred Flowers Awards previously awarded the "Best Supporting Actor" and "Best Supporting Actress" awards to Li Feng and Yang Tianbao, the Hundred Flowers Awards have been on the same level in the hearts of the public as the Golden Eagle Awards, which is flooded with awards.

It can be seen that the organizers of this year's Golden Rooster Awards really put a lot of thought into it. In previous years, the awards ceremony was over after the awards were given, but this year, many star performances and interactive sessions were added.

Although it seemed a bit stiff under the requirements of the main theme, it was at least a good start.

In general award ceremonies, important awards are placed at the beginning and end, and those small awards with less attention are placed in the middle, so that uninterested audiences can skip them directly.

The Golden Rooster Awards are no exception. The "Best Supporting Actor/Actress" and "Best Director Debut" were first awarded. The latter award can be said to be the most undisputed one today. It was given to Wen Muye, the director of "Dying to Survive".

They are all new directors who came out of the "Bad Monkey 72 Transformations Plan". Wen Muye's text ability is indeed better than Shen Ao. This year's National Day compilation movie "My Motherland and Me" was a big hit, and he also directed a part in it. The quality is not the best, but it is not the worst.

After the opening awards, there are some small awards such as documentaries, science and education films, and technical awards.

Although "The Wandering Earth" was shortlisted for four technical nominations, it only won one "Best Recording" in the end.

There is no way, the Golden Rooster Awards do not have awards such as "Best Visual Effects", otherwise "The Wandering Earth" would definitely win.

This is also a defect of the Golden Rooster Awards, there are too few award categories. There are no awards such as "Best Visual Effects", "Best Song", "Best Adapted Screenplay" that are expected in regular international film festivals. And most importantly, there is also a "Best Foreign Language Film" award missing.

It can only be said that the organizers still have a long way to go to make the Golden Rooster Award the highest award for Chinese-language films.

These small awards are dispensable for many ordinary audiences, but they are indispensable for practitioners because they represent the recognition of the industry.

Meng Bai paid extra attention to the "Best Art Film" award, and the winner was "Wind Whisperer" released last year.

This movie belongs to the same "Painting Rivers and Lakes" series as "Painting Rivers and Lakes: The Bad Man" shot by Wu Bai, but with a new protagonist and story. Meng Bai remembered that Wu Bai's Wu Yuan Culture seemed to have invested some money, but like the online drama version, the box office results were not high. Meng Bai

took a photo and sent it to Wu Bai. This old man failed twice in a project, and winning an award is at least a consolation.

"It's a pity that the registration date for "Nezha" was over when it was released, otherwise this year's award would definitely be theirs." Guo Fan on the side sighed.

"It's the same. The Golden Rooster Awards have been changed to one year anyway, so they will be able to win next year." Meng Bai said, "And speaking of which, it's also a good thing for us that they didn't make the list this year."

Guo Fan couldn't help but laugh, "Really. If there was this publicity gimmick of 'being nominated for the Golden Rooster', maybe the box office would be stimulated and they would really surpass us."

This year's domestic film market has produced two movies with a box office of over 5 billion yuan. One is "The Wandering Earth" at the beginning of the year, and the other is "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World" in the summer.

When the two movies were released, they were very popular, and the release period was extended by two months. Many people wanted to see which of them would win the "Annual Box Office Champion" this year.

"Nezha" was finally taken off the screen at the beginning of this month, and the final total box office was 5.013 billion. Compared with the 5.048 billion of "The Wandering Earth", it was only more than 30 million less, so it could only be "ranked" second.

Meng Bai and Guo Fan were naturally relieved in private, but they still praised each other greatly. The producers and crew of Nezha were already ecstatic about this unexpected result. How could they be dissatisfied? They also responded enthusiastically to The Wandering Earth.

Both sides gained something, and everyone loved each other.

After various small awards and song and dance performances, more than an hour passed. With the end of the "Lifetime Achievement Film Artist of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles" award, the spirits of the whole audience were lifted.

The next thing to be served is today's main course.

First of all, the "Best Actor", "Best Actress" and "Best Screenwriter" awards were given to the crew of So Long, My Son at the same time.

The first two awards were expected by everyone. After all, Wang Jingchun and Yongmei won the Berlin Silver Bear for this movie at the same time, which is indeed a level higher than other nominees.

Meng Bai is not very familiar with Yongmei, but he knows Wang Jingchun. He starred in Arc Light's big hit "The Hidden Corner" this year.

"Best Screenwriter" was a bit unexpected. After all, Wang Xiaoshuai's group of directors have never been favored by domestic mainstream awards. I didn't expect to win the award today.

After these three awards, the only two awards left are "Best Director" and "Best Feature Film".

Almost all the attention of the audience was focused on the crews of "The Wandering Earth" and "Operation Red Sea". These two big hits last year and this year have only won one technical award so far.

For the sake of balance, the remaining two awards must be divided equally between the two, and it's nothing more than who wins the grand prize.

Although he said it very casually before, when the time came, Guo Fan still began to get nervous. It would be a pity to lose either of the two awards.

The same is true for the crew of "Operation Red Sea" on the other side. Everyone knows that once the "Best Director" award is announced, the final grand prize of the night will basically be determined.

So although it is the second to last award, the atmosphere on the scene is like the last one.

On the stage, the two award-giving guests also knew the expectations of everyone present, so they didn't say much. After a few pleasantries, they happily took out the award cards in the envelope.

"The winner of the 32nd Golden Rooster Awards for Best Director is—"

"Lin Chaoxian from Operation Red Sea!"

"Wow—"

Applause broke out at the scene, and Lin Chaoxian, with a big bald head, stood up and excitedly hugged the crew members around him to celebrate.

Speaking of which, Lin Chaoxian is one of the most successful Hong Kong film directors who have moved north. "Operation Mekong" a few years ago opened up the field of military action films. Last year's "Operation Red Sea" won the annual box office champion again.

He is the best director in the commercialization of mainstream themes.

Compared with the happy Lin Chaoxian, Guo Fan was a little disappointed, after all, he missed his first highest award for director. But he quickly adjusted his mood and stood up to applaud the other side.

Meng Bai also stood up and applauded with him, but he was much more sincere.

Lin Chaoxian won the "Best Director", so "The Wandering Earth" has a 90% chance of winning the final award.

Well, it can only be said to be 90% at present, after all, sometimes you can't be too sure about awards. You never know which judge might suddenly have a whim and vote for someone else, resulting in that one vote being the missing vote in the end.

It's not a good idea to open the champagne at halftime, it's just a matter of seconds.

Listening to Dante Lam's constant thanks on the stage, Meng Bai wanted to go up and pull him down. After waiting for the end, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With the sound of exciting music, the most important moment of the night finally arrived.

Meng Bai frowned slightly and watched the host's announcement on the stage, and suddenly felt his hand being held.

He looked down and saw Zhao Jinmai's white and tender palm resting on the back of his hand.

"Don't worry, Brother Meng Bai." The girl smiled brightly, "We will definitely be fine."

Meng Bai's emotions eased, and he also smiled and said, "Yes, no problem."

On the stage, the host and the guest of honor finally finished what they wanted to say and opened the envelope in their hands.

"The winner of the 32nd Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film is-"

"The Wandering Earth!"

(End of this chapter)