Chapter 703 Film Festival (8200 words updated!)
"I don't know how to describe this feeling. At first, I was very reluctant to play this kind of role."
Lu Yanhe said to Chen Ziyan.
"Then, when I thought about how I could play the role of Chen Pinhe, it was like a revelation to me. All the resistance disappeared, and it was like a floodgate being opened. My desire to perform was released like a burst of water."
Chen Ziyan: "The fact that you were able to find a starting point from this angle only proves that you are amazing."
Lu Yanhe: "What I never expected was that one day I would encounter a character that I felt was actually very well written, but I felt I couldn't play it."
“Because your fundamental nature is good, you can’t empathize with hypocrisy. And as for your acting, you’re a 100% method actor in my eyes. All the techniques you’ve accumulated are preparations for that experience. If you can’t empathize with your character, you can’t find a foothold to play a role well,” Chen Ziyan said. “That’s your weakness.”
“That’s true.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “I’ve played many flawed characters, but I can generally understand them. I can understand their selfishness, anger, and lack of self-control at a certain stage or moment. I can even empathize with them. But for this kind of inherent selfishness and arrogance, and this kind of self-righteous smugness, no matter how good I am, I can only understand it rationally.”
“That’s great. If you can land this role, it will broaden your acting range,” Chen Ziyan said. “I’m quite curious how you’ll portray such a character.”
Lu Yanhe shook his head: "There's really nothing to be curious about. I don't even know myself."
Chen Ziyan: "Both 'Dingfeng No. 1' and Wang Zhong's new film will definitely be going through film festivals."
“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “It should be. From what I know so far, both of these films are typical art films, only suitable for film festivals.”
“Then I hope neither of these two films will be submitted to the Citour Film Festival,” Chen Ziyan said with a smile. “That way, you might be able to win another award at a top international film festival.”
Lu Yanhe said, "However, their films are actually more suitable for the Situ Film Festival."
“Yes.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “I was just saying. If we could get Satur, we would definitely give it to Satur. Its influence is the greatest. Look at the Oscars two months ago, and the highest film awards in several European countries. The films nominated the most and the ones with the most momentum were all Satur films.”
The reason why Midoriya said that "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Tropical Rain" could compete for next year's Oscars is because they are the most popular films at the Situ Film Festival.
The Situ Film Festival receives the most attention from European and American countries compared to the other four major international film festivals.
For Lu Yanhe's personal career, having just won Best Actor at the Situation Film Festival, the possibility of him winning a second award within ten years is extremely low, almost zero. In the history of the Situation Film Festival, there has never been a case of the same person receiving the same award within ten years.
Even top international film festivals care about these things.
Lu Yanhe is now deeply intertwined with the Satur Film Festival. His first film was at the Satur Film Festival, his first Best Actor award was at the Satur Film Festival, and his first top prize at a prestigious international film festival was also at the Satur Film Festival. It can be said that Lu Yanhe's entire acting career, up to this point, is deeply intertwined with the Satur Film Festival.
Sitor is unlikely to award him another major individual prize in the near future. This would be detrimental to the festival's development and to Sitor's ability to discover other film talents.
-
Lu Yanhe was tired of reading scripts and wanted to find something new to work on.
He didn't want his life to consist only of the Ling River and movies.
So he asked Chen Siqi what he could do now.
Upon hearing that Lu Yanhe had offered to help, Chen Siqi immediately said, "We're preparing for the International Film Critics Festival in June. If you have nothing to do, why don't you come and help with this?"
Lu Yanhe said, "I can't stay fully engaged in this work. What am I supposed to do? If I go off to film something else, won't others have to clean up my mess?"
"Who said that?" Chen Ziyan said. "There is a job that you can be responsible for indefinitely."
What kind of job?
“Film selection,” Chen Ziyan said. “In the very first edition, we decided on the theme of the Jump Up International Film Critics Festival, which is for everyone to sit together and discuss films. Last year, the films we selected balanced both popular appeal and artistic merit. Only when the films are selected correctly can the discussions have the potential to be disseminated. This year is the same. Lin Yu is currently worried about what films to select this year.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe was somewhat tempted.
"Moreover, we have to write a theme for every film we screen, or else this job will be left to you," Chen Siqi said.
Lu Yanhe: "...Wouldn't it be more appropriate to leave this to Lin Yu? She wrote it last year, and if you suddenly ask me to write it, she definitely won't be happy."
“If you saw how much pain Lin Yu is in right now, you wouldn’t think this way,” Chen Siqi said. “She came to me yesterday to complain about why she was still doing this job alone this year. I told her it was because of film selection—especially selecting films for a group of famous film critics. People who don’t know much about film history really don’t know how to select them.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"How to make this group of already professional film critics feel the professionalism of our film festival is a very important thing." Chen Siqi sighed. "Selecting films is the most basic task. If the theme is not set well and the films are not selected well, then no matter how well we do in terms of form, in the eyes of real filmmakers, we are just a nouveau riche."
"Does this year's film festival have a theme?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Chen Siqi shook her head, "We didn't set a theme."
“I think we can have a theme for each edition,” Lu Yanhe said. “This way, whether it’s film selection, discussions, or post-screening exchanges, we can have something more specific.”
Chen Siqi: "At first, we considered doing thematic discussions, but we were also worried that this approach would limit what everyone really wanted to discuss."
“We’re just setting a theme, not restricting us to talking about these things,” Lu Yanhe said. “Of course, this also means that you have to choose a good theme, something that is truly meaningful to the film industry. For example, the debut film is a very broad and ever-discussed concept in the film industry. Of course, for a film festival, using this as a theme is a bit mediocre, because it would turn the discussion into a summary or a retrospective.”
Chen Siqi smiled and nodded, "See, you speak so eloquently, you are the most suitable person for this job."
A little while later, Linyu arrived.
When Lin Yu heard Chen Siqi say that Lu Yanhe could help, she immediately said, "Don't help me. Just let me get out of this. This job really requires a lot of quiet thinking to do. But right now I not only have to record regular programs on Yuehu TV, but also invite various film critics. I simply can't calm down and do this. Siqi, I strongly suggest that, starting from this year, we should invite an influential filmmaker to write the introduction for each film list and each film screening."
Chen Siqi turned to look at Lu Yanhe.
What do you think?
Lu Yanhe took a deep breath and scratched his head.
"I feel like I've dug myself a huge hole."
-
Nevertheless, Lu Yanhe took on the job.
The first International Critics' Film Festival was quite successful. In particular, the festival culminated in a book that compiled and published the remarks of the film critics around the world.
Compared to typical film critic forums, this film festival undoubtedly elevates the status of film critics to a certain level.
The publication of this book, in particular, means that every film critic's article and the entire record of the film festival have been preserved in a concrete form, making it possible for film lovers to read it over a longer period of time, whether in bookstores or libraries.
Therefore, the second edition was both logical and highly anticipated.
How to select the films for the second edition?
Lu Yanhe glanced at an order that Lin Yu had already completed.
Lin Yu is actually trying her best to balance classic films and lesser-known gems.
Lu Yanhe could see that Lin Yu wanted to use this film festival to rediscover some of the best films in film history that were not known to most people, and even had the ambition to make their value known to others.
To be honest, if the International Critics' Film Festival can achieve this, it will be a unique value of the festival.
Lu Yanhe believes this point should be preserved.
His eyes suddenly lit up.
Why not write to those filmmakers he respects and ask them to recommend a film that they believe has not received its due recognition in film history?
Firstly, this gives Lu Yanhe more options to decide on this year's film list. Secondly, this recommended list can also serve as a surprise at this year's film festival, allowing some lesser-known and niche films to gain more attention through the festival.
So, Lu Yanhe acted immediately, sending emails to people he had worked with, knew, and admired.
In the body of the email, he carefully explained his intentions and asked the other party to recommend only one film, no more, and if possible, to include the reasons for the recommendation.
Lu Yanhe even sent such an email to the artistic directors of the four major international film festivals.
As it turned out, the first person to call was Li Zhibai.
"What are you doing? You could have just called me directly, why did you have to send me an email?" Li Zhibai complained.
Lu Yanhe: "Of course, we need to be more formal. If I just call you casually and mention it, you probably won't think about it seriously and will just give me something random."
Li Zhibai: "You underestimate me. You think you can just give me one? I won't give you any."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
"How's it going with 'Buried'?"
"Sigh, don't even mention it, it's fucking tough." Li Zhibai sighed. "I knew this movie would be difficult to act in, but I never imagined it would be this difficult."
Lu Yanhe wasn't worried that Li Zhibai wouldn't do a good job.
Li Zhibai is a very good actor.
Not only Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang knew this, but Luo Yuzhong had also praised him for it.
When filming "Chinese Paladin", Law Yu-chung said that it was rare to see a handsome man playing another handsome man so relaxed and without any image burden, while still being handsome in a very lifelike way.
Although this point doesn't mean much to Bury. Bury is about tragedy, fear, and panic.
But given Li Zhibai's expressive ability, as long as he finds the psychological support for his performance, there will be absolutely no problem.
To be fair, the difficulty of performing in "Buried Alive" only seems great because it is a one-man show from beginning to end. In reality, whether it is the difficulty of the role or the complexity of the emotions, it is relatively easy to grasp and complete.
Lu Yanhe asked, "Have you met Zebi?"
“We met once,” Li Zhibai said. “The whole time he talked about you. This guy seems to have become a big fan of yours.”
"Come on, he's just a businessman," Lu Yanhe laughed. "Who did they hire as director?"
“Don’t you know him? There’s this guy who used to make independent films, Bob Xavier. I got along pretty well with him,” Li Zhibai said. “I thought you knew him.”
“Parameter is in charge of this movie. I’ve already insisted that you be the lead actor. It’s impossible for me to decide who the director is,” Lu Yanhe said. “Otherwise, this movie will be out of their control.”
“But Bob and Zebby don’t get along very well either,” Li Zhibai said. “They’ve even clashed in front of me.”
What conflict?
“It’s about the editing rights to this movie, at least that’s what I hear,” Li Zhibai explained. “Bob wanted the final cut, but Zebi disagreed and didn’t even want Bob involved in the final cut.”
Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised to hear this, but there was nothing strange about it.
“Basically, Hollywood big film studios don’t give the final cut rights to the director unless it’s a top-tier director,” Lu Yanhe said. “For example, the movie ‘Buried’ has a small budget, but it’s positioned as a genre film, a genre film that can achieve big results with a small budget, so Parameter definitely won’t give up the final cut rights.”
"I'm fine with it, it has nothing to do with me anyway. But seeing them arguing like this, especially Bob yelling at Zebi behind my back about this several times, reminded me of Liu Manbo. Although I promised to make his second film and help him find investment, I also said that if I'm not satisfied with his edited version, I'll find someone else to re-edit and do the post-production. He understood and agreed, but was he also angry behind my back?"
“Absolutely, there’s no doubt about it,” Lu Yanhe said bluntly. “Any director who has their final cut taken away will definitely be dissatisfied.”
Li Zhibai: "Do you think it was a mistake for me to continue filming his second movie? It's possible that I would put in a lot of effort for nothing, the movie would be ruined, and I would even be hated by Liu Manbo because of the final cut rights."
“These are two different things. As far as Liu Manbo is concerned, even if he is unhappy that his final cut was taken away, he knows why. If he is a decent person, even if he is unhappy, he should know how many opportunities you gave him. He shouldn’t just hate you because of this one thing.”
"But I still have something to say. There's no way around this situation. If you have resources, you can just be an actor without being a producer or doing your own projects. But if you want to have some control, then don't think about being someone who isn't hated. You're bound to offend some people. Being a pushover will only make others happy and cause you to suffer."
Li Zhibai: "So you don't think my decision was wrong?"
“I don’t know if your decision is right or wrong in the end, but I think the act of making this decision is right. Every decision has the possibility of failure. You saw Liu Manbo’s talent, you saw the good points of the second film, and you believed that it had the potential to succeed, so you made this decision, right?”
"Of course."
“So, from an outsider’s perspective, others may question you or think you’ve made a foolish decision. But as long as you know why you made this decision and are willing to admit the consequences of failure, then other people’s opinions are just for reference,” Lu Yanhe said. “A person who never makes a decision will never make a mistake, but he will also always be the same.”
Li Zhibai breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease,” he said. “To be honest, I’ve been going back and forth about this for a while now, worried that I might be being too optimistic or too naive.”
“In my experience, anyone who isn’t naive will always have to play it safe in the entertainment industry, which means they’ll always be mediocre,” Lu Yanhe said. “You’re not a mediocre person.”
"Oh, so you think I'm a genius?"
"certainly."
"Forget it, I guess I'm only a genius in your eyes. If I really were a genius, why haven't the directors I like asked me to act in their films?"
“Isn’t that normal?” Lu Yanhe said. “Am I a genius in your eyes?”
"Is that even a question?"
“Then you saw several big directors approach me to act in their films,” Lu Yanhe said. “Besides Wang Zhong, but actually, when I first acted in Wang Zhong’s films, I was just a supporting actor. The same was true for the dramas directed by my teacher Luo Yuzhong and Chen Lingling; I was always a supporting actor.”
Li Zhi was stunned.
"Now that you think about it, it's true."
“We all face a problem. Li Zhibai, we are very popular and have a lot of fans, but the more popular we are, the harder it is to work with big directors, because we are not under their control,” Lu Yanhe said. “Especially when our acting skills have not yet been recognized and we have not yet established ourselves in the film industry.”
Li Zhibai: "What you're saying really surprises me. Why is it that even now, you've reached this point, and none of the big directors in China have approached you to act?"
“There are basically no good roles or scripts available now, and they won’t come to me easily,” Lu Yanhe said. “This is what Sister Ziyan told me. Also, I haven’t really been in the same industry as them, so they won’t tailor roles for me. In their movies, there are basically no roles with my age as the main character.”
Li Zhibai: "Most of them are supporting roles."
“Yes,” Lu Yanhe said. “Or maybe it’s a dual male lead role, or whatever the reason, I’m not actually that popular in the domestic film industry. I’m very popular with film companies, but not necessarily with directors. It’s the same for you. After you filmed ‘Even Faking Death Is Not an Option’ with Liu Bige, things might be a little better because you have a representative film. But if you want to continue playing the male lead in films, you can only act in some commercial films, or have film companies tailor-make films for you.”
Li Zhibai: "I understand what you mean."
"It's a real shame that most of the movies directed by big directors in China now feature men over 35 as the main characters. If we want to make good movies, we have to find scripts and do projects ourselves. That's why I told you before that it's right for you to make decisions, no matter what. If you can't do projects yourself, a lot of the time, no matter how famous you are, you'll be being chosen, and you won't have much room to choose."
Li Zhibai: "I hope to act in some different films. They don't necessarily have to be profound or win awards. I just don't want to be cast as someone who dates different girls all the time."
This is Li Zhibai's biggest worry.
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.
He thought of a very famous Hollywood actor named Matthew McConaughey.
This notorious "playboy" actor commands exorbitant fees for any role he plays, with film companies vying for him.
However, even someone as famous as him is still limited by genre. The more money romantic movies make, the less Hollywood wants him to make other types of movies. In the end, no other films are offered to him except for this genre.
After he refused to star in romantic movies, no film companies approached him for roles, and he even went so far as to decide to "leave Hollywood for two years."
Fortunately, he eventually succeeded in transitioning to acting, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "Dallas Furniture Club".
The predicament Li Zhibai faces is quite similar to his own.
Of course, Li Zhibai is in a slightly better position. In the Chinese market, it's not so serious that you won't get any roles if you don't play a certain type of character.
Lu Yanhe strongly supports Li Zhibai's efforts to overcome his limitations.
The reason why Li Zhibai decided to support Liu Manbo so quickly and why Lu Yanhe did not advise him to give up during their second collaboration was also because of this.
Li Zhibai should take advantage of the opportunity to make things happen now that he has the chance.
If you don't take risks and try new things when you're popular and at the peak of your career, when will you?
-
At the end of April, Lu Yanhe handed over the film list he had compiled, including a list of "hidden gems" recommended by various filmmakers, to Chen Siqi and Lin Yu.
The two of them were overjoyed.
Along with this list, they were given preliminary authorization from these companies to screen their films at the International Critics' Film Festival.
Lu Yanhe handled all the authorization issues himself.
People are very receptive to it.
Chen Siqi said, "Look, by doing this, you've saved us so much trouble."
Lu Yanhe: "It's too difficult. I won't do it next year. I think Lin Yu's suggestion is right. Next year, we can invite other filmmakers to make this film list."
Chen Siqi said, "I can consider it."
If this year's film list receives a good response, filmmakers who receive this invitation next year may well accept it.
This also reflects the influence of the industry.
The more this kind of invitation is, the more it contains a hidden value of influence.
At this time, the Jose Film Festival also announced its list of films nominated for this year.
The Chinese-language film "The Way We Came" has been nominated for the main competition. The film stars Meng Li and Ji Miao and is an art film.
"Burning Fire" was shortlisted for the screening section.
Longyan Film Industry plans to have "Burning Fire" premiere at the Jose Film Festival and seek overseas buyers there.
Huang Tai immediately contacted Lu Yanhe and invited him and the crew to attend the premiere of "Burning Fire" at the Jose Film Festival.
At that time, Lu Yanhe had not yet joined the cast of the sequel to "The Mist," so there was time to spare.
It just so happens that "Math," the brand that Lu Yanhe endorses, is also one of the sponsoring brands of this year's Jose Film Festival, and they hope that Lu Yanhe can attend.
Lu Yanhe discussed it with Chen Ziyan and decided to go.
Besides these, "Love Letter" won two major awards at the Jose Film Festival last year, and Lu Yanhe should have gone to support it if he had the time.
Upon learning that Lu Yanhe would be attending, Wu Yang, the artistic director of the Jose Film Festival, immediately sent Lu Yanhe an email, asking if he would be willing to serve as an award presenter at the closing ceremony of this year's film festival.
Lu Yanhe agreed.
-
"Diary column?"
In early May, Lu Yanhe welcomed a rare guest he hadn't seen in a long time.
Xinzixing (辛子杏).
“Yes.” Xin Zixing nodded. “Yemai.com has been revamped and is now online. The entertainment section is one of our key focuses. We certainly won’t miss the Jose Film Festival, and I would like to formally invite you to return to Yemai.com.”
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.
Previously, Lu Yanhe did indeed have an account on Yemai.com.
At that time, he was deeply involved with Yemai.com, where he would post his reading notes, movie reviews, and even some recording clips.
So, although many people have forgotten it now, Lu Yanhe's initial rise to fame was due to his strong "artistic" qualities, which set him apart from many popular young stars in the industry and gave him his own style.
"What happened to those high-ranking officials from Yemai.com before?" Lu Yanhe asked curiously, "Including your former colleagues."
"I know the capabilities of those who can obey my arrangements and accept the redesign of Yemai.com. Those who can stay have stayed. As for those who deliberately oppose me and go against my wishes, I have already driven away some of them, and I will terminate the contracts with the rest within three months."
Xin Zixing speaks of these things with a nonchalant air.
Lu Yanhe nodded thoughtfully and said, "Sister Zixing, I can return to Yemai.com, but I need to sign a cooperation agreement with Yemai.com that has a lot of requirements."
Xin Zixing smiled slightly and said, "As long as you are willing to continue to cooperate, any agreement is fine. Don't worry, as long as I am on Yemai.com, this will be one of your important strongholds. Of course, if one day I am driven away, I hope you will leave without hesitation."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
“You’re actually very well-suited for LeafVein.net,” he said. “It’s a real shame that your talent is only being used for variety shows.”
Xin Zixing nodded.
"By the way, there's another important thing I want to tell you this time. My personal judgment is that Shijin Group will likely further expand into the cultural and entertainment industry. They will most likely acquire a video platform or establish one themselves. You, Ziyan, and Siqi have basically occupied several important links in the cultural and entertainment industry. The only thing you lack is distribution channels. I don't know if there is any room for cooperation between you and them in this regard, so I'm telling you first. You can judge for yourselves. If needed, I can help you make connections and sound out their intentions."
Lu Yanhe understood what Xin Zixing meant.
He nodded.
"I'll go and discuss it with Sister Ziyan and Siqi."
How important are distribution channels?
In short, the biggest problem for Chinese-language films going global is not a lack of funding or content in production, but a lack of distribution channels overseas, especially their own distribution channels.
Linghe is currently producing film and television dramas, and Chen Siqi is also producing Jump Theater. On the content side, they are both OK. However, this content needs to be exported to Yuehu TV, Aurora Video, Icefield Video, and overseas streaming media.
If these platforms don't pay for it, then this content can't generate any profit.
Although Lu Yanhe's cooperation with them went quite smoothly, it's the same principle as Lu Yanhe himself wanting to use a spiritual river. If they could have a platform under their control, it would definitely be better.
Owning your own platform is practically impossible. The major video platforms in China, including cinema chains, are all backed by substantial capital.
For individual entrepreneurs like Lu Yanhe, unless they choose to cooperate with capital groups, it is very difficult to control a video platform. Being able to invest and become a shareholder with some say in it is already an extremely remarkable thing.
The news that Xin Zixing mentioned was actually telling Lu Yanhe that this might be an opportunity for Lu Yanhe and Linghe to get involved in the management and control of a video platform.
Lu Yanhe immediately went to tell Chen Ziyan about this.
Chen Ziyan said, "I'll first try to sound out Yang Zhouli in my personal capacity. It's better to be safe than sorry. They're going to enter the entertainment industry, and they're definitely interested in you. If you can join their ranks, it will be a huge benefit for them, but it might not be a good thing for us."
The reason why Lu Yanhe, Linghe, and "Jump Up" are so successful in the industry is largely because they do not belong to any faction or capital camp. Therefore, all parties can cooperate with them and are willing to maintain such cooperative relationships.
Once Lu Yanhe becomes a member of a certain capitalist camp, then to the other camps, they become enemies.
It is still an enemy that must be dealt with and eliminated as soon as possible.
Because this enemy appears invincible, it cannot be defeated using normal tactics.
"In any case, you absolutely cannot have a deep-seated alliance with them openly," Chen Ziyan reminded her.
Lu Yanhe nodded in agreement.
Then, another piece of news came. Shijin Group acquired Lantian Qi's "Small Eyes," and Yang Zhouli would be going to the Jose Film Festival in May to buy the film.
Yang Zhouli personally called Lu Yanhe and invited him to attend the "Practical Night" they would be holding at the Jose Film Festival.
(End of this chapter)
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