Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 63 Cannes Past

Every year, the Cannes Film Festival serves as a stage for Chinese actresses to showcase themselves.

Even if no reporters pay attention to them and no foreigners watch them, the female stars have already prepared a set of procedures.

They would arrange for their own personal photographers to take some nice photos, then bribe the media after returning home and release some press releases.

The format is usually the same: so-and-so wears such-and-such clothes and outshines everyone else.

This tactic doesn't help him much internationally, but it effectively enhances his status domestically, making it a classic example of "exporting to the domestic market."

However, this method is indeed effective. Basically, just walking the red carpet at Cannes or Venice and Berlin is enough to earn the title of an international female star.

Of course, there are also true international actresses, such as Gong Li, whose status as an international actress is unlikely to be questioned by many.

The red carpet was bustling with activity that day. As a creator competing for the short film awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Zhang Jun was naturally entitled to walk the red carpet.

Before walking the red carpet, Ye Xiaoyi was still there choosing a dress.

However, Zhang Jun was very blunt: "Junior, don't be so picky, just wear anything. Even if you dress up like an angel, foreigners won't give you a second glance."

Ye Xiaoyi rolled her eyes at Zhang Jun: "Senior, you don't understand women. Loving beauty is in their nature."

"Why should I understand women? I only like to understand their bodies, have a friendly exchange, and have a physical relationship without getting emotionally involved."

Zhang Jun's self-righteousness left Ye Xiaoyi speechless.

In the end, she chose a white dress, which suited her temperament better, and then walked the red carpet with Zhang Jun.

To be honest, she was a little nervous walking on such a large red carpet for the first time, after all, there were so many people!

But just as Zhang Jun said, Ye Xiaoyi found that hardly anyone paid attention to her. Even the reporters from China seemed to be focusing on Gao Yuanyuan and Shu Qi.

So Ye Xiaoyi relaxed and walked the red carpet with Zhang Jun in a relaxed and pleasant manner.

As is well known, the Cannes Film Festival has two major traditions.

First, it embodies the passion and exuberance of France, much like the palm trees on the Mediterranean coast and the bikinis on the golden sands.

Secondly, the unconventional approach has drawn mixed reviews. Some criticize it as a commercial hype that overshadows the brilliance of art, while others attribute it to the erratic aesthetic choices of the jury members, whose styles vary greatly each year.

The Cannes Film Festival jury is known for its unique tastes, and their choices often surprise the public.

Some people describe the Cannes Film Festival like this: "If the 77-year-old Oscars is an elderly person in their eighties, then the 58-year-old Cannes is definitely a menopausal housewife, and trying to diagnose her is harder than climbing to heaven."

Almost no media outlet that dares to predict the Oscars would dare to act recklessly in front of the Cannes Film Festival.

Before the awards ceremony, "Andhadhun" was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, garnering considerable praise. However, this was actually a dangerous sign, as the jury members have a history of going against the media.

However, "Andhadhun" is not competing for the Palme d'Or for a feature film. Although the Palme d'Or for a short film is also named after the Palme d'Or, it is not as demanding.

With Wu Yuseng's guarantee, the chances of winning the award have greatly increased.

Even before the awards ceremony, "Andhadhun" had already achieved considerable success, selling its rights for hundreds of thousands of dollars during its screenings.

After the awards ceremony, the copyright is estimated to sell for another several hundred thousand dollars.

However, for Hou Yu, having prepared so much, winning the award is naturally the most important thing.

The Cannes Film Festival jury did not disappoint him, and after winning the Camera d'Or and Best Screenplay awards, he reaped the rewards.

"Andhadhun" beat out its competitors to win the Best First Short Film award, giving the Chinese team a great start.

During the screenings over the past few days, many people have seen "The Tuner" and highly praised the quality of the short film.

Therefore, there was a greater sense of sincerity in this applause.

However, on the set of "Shanghai Dreams", Qin Hao clapped and asked Gao Yuanyuan, "Director Zhang Jun doesn't seem too excited. His expression is very calm."

Gao Yuanyuan explained on Zhang Jun's behalf: "He majored in astronomy in college, and he told me that he would be extremely excited if he won the Nobel Prize."

Li Bin, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Why didn't Director Zhang pursue further studies?"

"Well... in his words, it's because he doesn't have enough talent," Gao Yuanyuan replied.

Wang Xiaoshuai, who was standing nearby, made a dry joke: "It seems that the Nobel Prize should add a film award."

Everyone nodded in agreement; indeed, the Nobel Prize in Film sounded quite prestigious.

On stage, Zhang Jun held the trophy and gave a brief acceptance speech in Chinese. His English was quite good, and he had no problem with everyday conversation.

However, he felt that using Chinese would be more formal in this setting.

Regardless of whether the foreigners could understand him or not, he finished speaking and stepped down from the stage.

Hou Yu did not appear on stage; he would wait until the short film Palme d'Or to come up, as that would attract more attention.

After Zhang Jun went down, before he could even warm the trophy, Ye Xiaoyi snatched it away.

"This trophy should be placed in our Electricity Association's honor cabinet; you mustn't tarnish it."

Zhang Jun shrugged: "Junior, I created this short film. How can you call it an insult?"

Hou Yu, who was standing to the side, laughed and said, "We have more than just this one honor."

As expected, after winning the Special Jury Prize for Best Short Film, "Andhadhun" once again won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film.

Although it was a short film that won the Palme d'Or, it was still a Palme d'Or.

The applause and cheers were louder this time, and when Hou Yu and Zhang Jun went on stage, the foreigners around them also congratulated them.

Traditionally, the Palme d'Or for short films is not awarded to short films that have already won awards, but this year seems to be an exception.

However, considering the quality of "Andhadhun", it seems understandable.

Before the awards ceremony, many local media outlets predicted that "Andhadhun" would be a big winner. The behind-the-scenes story of this short film also came to the attention of the media.

They were quite surprised when they heard that the short film was made last year by a young man who hadn't even turned twenty-three yet.

More importantly, some media outlets have revealed that Chris Zhang is not a film and television director by training; he is a graduate of Tsinghua University, one of China's top universities.

This added a lot of legendary status to "The Tuner," and Zhang Jun himself also became a little famous.

Hou Yu was visibly excited when he received the trophy from the presenter.

He delivered his acceptance speech in English, mentioning the name of the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University several times, thus achieving his intended publicity goal.

While winning the Palme d'Or for short films won't help with the QS rankings, it will certainly bring fame to the school and the art academy where you work.

At least when it comes to recruiting international students, its reputation is much greater than that of Peking University next door.

As is customary, Zhang Jun spoke in Chinese: "Thank you to the judges for recognizing our short film, and thank you to Tsinghua University for supporting it."

I also want to thank my investor, Ms. Ye Xiaoyi. The film industry is full of dream chasers, and without her, my film journey wouldn't have been so smooth.

He simply gave his acceptance speech and that was it; Zhang Jun's mission in Cannes was complete.

Hou Yu, still excited, returned to his seat and said to Zhang Jun, "I've already spoken with the school's Youth League Committee. The school won't take a single penny of the money from selling the rights to this short film; it'll all be yours."

More than the short film Palme d'Or, this was what made Zhang Jun happy, and he quickly expressed his gratitude.

"If it weren't for you, our school wouldn't have had the chance to show up in Cannes. You deserve it." Hou Yu patted Zhang Jun on the shoulder.

Hou Yu, as a professor of art history and theory at Tsinghua University, may be somewhat obsessed with officialdom, but he may also have some ideological problems.

But since he was willing to give Zhang Jun this considerable sum of money, he was considered a very good person in Zhang Jun's eyes.