Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 131 The Impact of the Palme d'Or
Among the reporters waiting in the press area outside the venue, someone shouted, "It's Cao, Chinese director Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or."

The hundreds of reporters who were waiting were suddenly in an uproar, and their voices kept coming out.

"Is it real?"

"That should be the case. His "Milk" is also a hot favorite for the Palme d'Or."

“I didn’t expect that Cannes would give the prize to an American film.”

"This movie is pretty good. It ruthlessly exposes the ugly faces of American politicians. For a movie like this, it's not a big surprise."

"Is this Cao's second triple gold award? I think he won the Venice Golden Lion last year."

"Look, the organizing committee is here, asking if it's true."

After learning that Cao Yang had indeed won the Palme d'Or, many reporters began to either make phone calls or rush to the interview area.

Many domestic reporters came, including some official media and special reporters from the three major portals.

"I didn't expect it. I interviewed Director Cao Yang when he won the Golden Lion last year. This year, I just moved to France and he won the Palme d'Or again."

Xu Yanghui, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency, was waiting in the interview area and sighed to the reporters around him.

"You were the one who interviewed Director Cao when he won the Golden Lion last year? You are so lucky. You caught up with him to win the Palme d'Or again this year."

"Ha, yeah, I think so too. The only regret is that this movie is an American movie, and Director Cao didn't win the Palme d'Or for a Chinese-language movie." Xu Yanghui shook his head, feeling a little regretful.

"That's really the fly in the ointment. By the way, have you seen the movie?"

"I watched it. Just like Secret Sunshine, it was rumored to be a sweet love movie, but it made many people cry. This biographical movie was rumored to be a gay movie, but it turned out to be a political satire that mocked American politicians."

"Who says it's not true? But this movie is really bold. It ridicules all the politicians in it, including the American police."

"It's okay. This is no big deal in Hollywood. They dare to make a movie directly mocking the commander-in-chief... Here it comes!"

Following Xu Yanghui's shout, the winners of the main competition unit came out one after another and accepted brief interviews at different locations.

Several domestic reporters quickly got ready and squeezed towards the most crowded place, where Cao Yang was.

……

The three major domestic portals updated the news of Cao Yang winning the Palme d'Or as soon as possible.

"my country's famous director Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or at the 56th Cannes International Film Festival."

"Director Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or at the 56th Cannes Film Festival for his film "Milk", becoming the second director in my country to win the Palme d'Or."

"Director Cao Yang won the Golden Palm at Cannes again with "Milk", following his Venice Golden Lion win with "Empty Room" last year."

"Director Cao Yang's second gold: At the 56th Cannes International Film Festival, the highest award, the Palme d'Or, was finally won by Director Cao Yang. This is his second most prestigious award after winning the Golden Lion last year."

……

The situation in China has been quite depressing during this period, and it just so happened that Cao Yang won the Palme d'Or. Although it was won for a foreign film, it is still a great joy for China.

As a result, the media tacitly increased their reporting efforts.

People's Daily: At the 56th Cannes International Film Festival that ended yesterday, my country's famous director Cao Yang won the highest prize, the Palme d'Or. This is the second time a Chinese has won the crown after Chen Kaige.

This is not the first time that director Cao Yang has won an international award. Last year, he won the Venice Golden Lion Award for "Empty Room".

Director Cao Yang once...

The People's Daily used half a page to publish this story, and listed all the achievements Cao Yang had made since his debut. It also used this opportunity to look back on the past, and to see that after generations of hard work and inheritance by Chinese filmmakers, and to look to the future, Chinese films will surely prosper.

The People's Daily even got involved, and other official media followed suit. For a time, they all reported on Cao Yang's deeds and achievements.

There is actually a benefit to all these official media outlets being shut down, which is that if Cao Yang turns to make commercial films, what depth can commercial films have? Under normal circumstances, major film critics and local media will definitely scold him, but for Cao Yang, local media can basically shut up for two years.

As for film critics, they should think twice before they start to criticize.

Just like Zhang Yimou's second commercial film "House of Flying Daggers", when it was first released, it was criticized everywhere. Almost all the film critics and local media criticized it, saying that the plot was nonsense and the scenes were too exaggerated...

In short, people criticized the movie for being useless and accused Zhang Yimou of self-degradation.

Lao Mouzi was really criticized during that period.

At Beijing Film Academy, early this morning, as usual, banners were hung everywhere.

“Warm congratulations to Director Cao Yang, a student of our school’s directing department, for winning the highest award, the Palme d’Or, at the 56th Cannes International Film Festival.”

Among them, the two words "students" in the banner were something that the school leaders repeatedly urged us to add.

It’s the same this time. Everything that can be hung in the school is hung up, and students of our school can see it at any time on campus.

Huang Lei walked into the office with a smile on his face. The office was very lively today, with everyone discussing Cao Yang's Palme d'Or.

He joined in naturally, and chatted with Wang Jinsong from time to time. He couldn't help but think in his heart, "Show off, show off as much as you can. This is the Palme d'Or that Cao Yang won for making a movie in Hollywood. It has nothing to do with you, haha..."

Xiao Gangpao asked Xu Fan to bring today's newspaper to see if there was any big news.

Xu Fan took a look at the newspaper and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Oh my, he actually won the Palme d'Or, that's amazing."

Little Cannon didn't care, as he felt that it was too far away from him. He was just curious and asked, "Who is it? Which country's film won the Palme d'Or this time?"

“An American film.”

Xu Fan was still surprised. He handed the newspaper to Xiao Gangpao and couldn't help sighing, "I didn't expect that he really won the Palme d'Or." "It's an American movie. That's not common."

The little steel cannon took the newspaper and said, "The Cannes Film Festival is famous enough, but it always compromises with the Americans... compromises... Damn it!"

With a whoosh, the little cannon jumped up from the sofa. Still unable to believe his eyes, he opened his eyes wide and looked again.

"What the hell..."

"This is impossible!"

"How can this be?"

"Why did it win the Palme d'Or?"

"How is it possible that he won the Palme d'Or?"

Little Cannon threw the newspaper and asked Xu Fan a series of questions loudly.

Xu Fan rolled his eyes and pushed the little cannon, "Are you crazy? Why are you yelling at me? Morality!"

No longer paying attention to the crazy little cannon, Xu Fan turned around and walked outside.

Xu Fan could understand Xiao Gangpao's crazy behavior. She knew that Xiao Gangpao had always wanted to be recognized by an international award, but several of his films had not entered the main competition unit.

Maybe it's because I see others winning awards so easily that I feel unbalanced.

The little cannon opened his eyes wide and read the newspaper over and over again. Yes, it was this sharp-tongued guy, this little bastard who won the Palme d'Or.

"Mean Milk", this is the name of the award-winning movie.

Xiao Gangpao still remembers that when he attended the meeting before, he laughed at him for being too naive. He deserved to be fooled by those Hollywood people and deserved to be exposed by the selected male lead...

I didn’t expect that the script he rewrote would win the Palme d’Or!

Is there any heavenly principle?

Why the hell is it that for others to win awards in Europe is as easy as eating and drinking, but I try my best to get a nomination but can’t even get it!
He tore up the newspaper and threw it into the trash can, then took a deep breath and began to reflect.

Finally, he hesitated and said to himself: "Why don't I go to Beijing Film Academy to study for a bachelor's degree?"

Similar to the situation of Little Cannon, the great poet Kai Ge remained silent for a long time after reading the contents of the newspaper. He did not react as strongly as Little Cannon.

At least that's how it looks on the surface.

"Your junior brother is really amazing. I didn't expect he also won the Palme d'Or." Chen Hong exclaimed in amazement.

"Ah."

Brother Chen Kai closed his eyes and it took him a long time before a word came out of his mouth.

"I remember that Cao Yang won the Golden Lion last year. I didn't expect that he won the Palme d'Or in just one year. Do you think he will win the Golden Bear next year?" Chen Hong gently pushed the poet and asked curiously.

"Ah."

Brother Kai still closed his eyes and uttered a word.

"Hey, let me ask you a question. Do you think your junior brother has a chance to win the triple gold grand slam?" Chen Hong said coquettishly, pulling the great poet's hand.

The great poet opened his eyes helplessly, took a deep breath, and patted Chen Hong's hand, "I have a headache, can you let me be quiet?"

"Hmph, Virtue!"

Chen Hong pulled her hand away and walked away with her hips twisted.

"Ugh……"

Brother Kai sighed and felt a real headache for a moment.

In the "Jasmine" crew, Liu Ye happily waved a newspaper and asked Zhang Ziyi: "Ziyi, guess what this is? Haha, you definitely can't guess it."

Zhang Ziyi's heart moved. Yesterday was the Cannes awards ceremony. The only thing that could make Liu Ye happy was that Cao Yang won the grand prize.

Sometimes I really don’t understand why Liu Ye, this heartless guy, praises Cao Yang so much. Isn’t it just for him to win the Silver Lion for Best Newcomer in Venice...

Alas, the Silver Lion for Best Newcomer at the Venice Film Festival is more authoritative than the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress. Thinking of this, Zhang Ziyi gets a headache.

"Director Cao Yang won a big award?"

Liu Ye's smile did not diminish. He laughed and said, "Yes, you will never guess what he got."

Zhang Jie thought about it and thought that this award must be extraordinary, so she guessed, "Could Director Cao be the Best Director at Cannes for the second time in a row? He won the Best Director award at Cannes last year."

"Haha, I said you couldn't guess it. It's too small, the pattern is small, guess bigger."

Zhang's eyes widened suddenly. What could be bigger than Best Director? The Grand Jury Prize is actually only slightly better than Best Director, and it is very limited. So, a bigger award than Best Director is about to be announced.

"No way? Cao Yang won't win the Palme d'Or, right?"

"Haha, that's right!"

Zhang Ziyi snatched the newspaper from Liu Ye's hand. The more she read, the more shocked she became, and the more regretful she felt.

"I shouldn't have hesitated and considered Liu Ye, my classmate, being around. I shouldn't have been concerned about Cao Yang... I shouldn't have had these concerns!"

(End of this chapter)