Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 21 Lost and Lost

At nine o'clock in the morning, Yu Feihong came to the lounge next to the TV station's studio and saw that Milk Tea Liu and Huang Yi had arrived, so she greeted them with a smile.

The movie "New Cross Street" starring these three girls will be released on March 3st. In order to promote it, they came to the TV station to participate in a program.

Huang Yi stood up and hugged Yu Feihong, jokingly saying, "Sister Feihong, you look so happy, is there any good news?"

She and Yu Feihong had worked together on the TV series "A Dream in Life" last year and they had a pretty good relationship.

"Yes, the smile on your face is about to overflow. Is it really good news?" Milk Tea Liu also hugged Yu Feihong lightly and said with a smile.

"Wasn't the Berlin Film Festival awards ceremony held yesterday? On the way here, I received a call from the company saying that a movie I starred in won the Jury Grand Prix and Best Actress." Yu Feihong explained softly with a smile on her face.

"Wow! Which big director is so amazing? He won two Silver Bears, and one of them is a Best Actress. That's the Berlin Best Actress." Huang Yi was very envious. "Who won the Berlin Best Actress?"

Milk Tea Liu was also extremely envious. She was known as a literary and artistic talent. If she won the Berlin Film Festival, a recognized international film queen, she would naturally be able to advance to the queen of literature and art.

"If I have the chance to win one of the top three European film actress awards, I will negotiate any price." Milk Tea Liu couldn't help but think.

"Li Xiaoran."

When mentioning this name, Yu Feihong felt a little jealous and a little admiring.

She turned down the female lead role at first because she didn't have the schedule, but since they were both alumni, she agreed to play a cameo role.

It took me about ten days to play a supporting role which was quite a lot.

I was supposed to go to Berlin this time, but because my new movie was released and needed promotion, I didn’t go.

In Yu Feihong's opinion, the heroine Li Xiaoran was a "lucky find".

But during those days when she played opposite someone, Yu Feihong witnessed what "the person and the role are one" meant. She felt that she would never forget the fact that she was outdone by the other person's acting skills.

This made her doubt her acting skills for a time.

Am I really just a vase?
She had nothing to say about Li Xiaoran's acting skills. If she didn't win the Best Actress award, she could only say that the judges were blind.

Huang Yi thought for a long time and blurted out, "Who is Li Xiaoran?"

Milk Tea Liu also shook his head, indicating that he didn't know him.

Yu Feihong introduced her to them: "She was not famous before and had only played small supporting roles. Director Cao had a keen eye and found her. Her acting skills are very, very good."

She used "very" twice in a row.

"I really envy her."

Huang Yi said something, and then asked Yu Feihong, "Sister Feihong, who is Director Cao? Which famous director? Is he from Hong Kong Wanwan?"

Yu Feihong smiled and shook her head. "No, he is a junior student in the directing department of my alma mater, Beijing Film Academy. This is his first practical film."

"what?"

"Isn't it?"

Two surprised voices sounded at the same time. Milk Tea Liu looked at Yu Feihong in disbelief, "A junior student?"

Huang Yi opened his mouth slightly and looked at Yu Feihong. This was really unbelievable.

Yu Feihong's smile became even brighter.

"Yes, his name is Cao Yang, and he is a junior this year. I heard that this was an assignment from their directing department, asking them to make a practical film with no limit on the length. Almost everyone else made short films of a few minutes, but he made this feature-length film and won two Silver Bears."

Huang Yi's mouth opened a little wider. She was really shocked. A student's practical film? How could it be linked to the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival? Milk Tea Liu was also very surprised. Suddenly, she had an idea. Beijing Film Academy? A junior student?

She hurriedly took out her cell phone, apologized to the two of them, and then went out to call Huang Lei.

About five minutes later, Yu Feihong saw Milk Tea Liu walk in in a daze, and asked hurriedly what was wrong.

Milk Tea Liu was a little dazed. It was only after Yu Feihong shouted at her a few times that she reacted. She forced out a smile that was uglier than crying, and said that she had her period and had a severe stomachache.

……

In Wang Shuo's courtyard, Zhang Yuan was drinking tea and discussing the plot with Wang Shuo, while Xu Jinglei was quietly brewing tea beside him, looking leisurely and contented.

Zhang Yuan graduated from the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy and won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 99 Venice Film Festival.

Although the domestic market has not been doing well in recent years, art films are still very popular at the three major European film festivals.

At this time, Zhang Yuan and Wang Shuo were discussing adapting Wang Shuo's novel "Die After Getting High" into a movie. The name had already been decided, "I Love You", and the heroine would definitely be Xu Jinglei.

Wang Shuo suddenly said, "Yuan, have you heard that Wang Xiaoshuai won the Best Director award in Berlin yesterday?"

"Really? I haven't watched the news yet. He's been busy revising the script recently. Didn't they say before that his movie didn't pass the review? Why did he go to Berlin? Did he go there privately?"

"Probably."

Wang Shuo took a sip of tea and laughed, "He won the Best Director award, so he has some ability. But he just hangs out with Wanwan and her gang every day, and when he was instigated by others, he went for it on impulse, and he's not afraid of being banned from directing."

"It's worth it even if I'm banned from directing to win this award."

"There's something even more amazing, I thought it was fake news. In your school, there's a junior in the directing department. He made his first movie and used an actress whose name I've never heard of. Yesterday, he won the Grand Jury Prize and the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award. Can you believe this?"

"puff!"

Zhang Yuan spat out the tea in his mouth, stared with his big eyes, and said in disbelief: "It's fake, right? Junior year? Two Silver Bears? Impossible, impossible."

"Oh! I also felt it was fake news at first, but the report by the groom's entertainment department was so detailed that it looked like the truth."

Xu Jinglei, who was standing next to him, refilled Zhang Yuan's tea and said, "It should be to attract attention, right? Speaking of this, it reminds me of a funny thing. A few years ago, there seemed to be a student in the directing department who wanted to make a movie and asked the school to ask me to play the leading role. I thought it was unreliable, so I ignored him."

Wang Shuo was amused and joked, "Isn't he also a junior student in the directing department?"

Xu Jinglei thought about it and said uncertainly: "It seems to be true."

The three of them suddenly fell silent.

Zhang Yuan took out his phone and said, "Let me ask."

So I started making phone calls.

A few minutes later, Zhang Yuan put down his phone in disbelief. Seeing the two looking at him curiously, he coughed and looked at Xu Jinglei with strange eyes.

"Cao Yang, a junior directing student, made his first film, a practical film, and won the Grand Jury Prize and the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress yesterday."

"what?"

Xu Jinglei covered her mouth with her hands and stared at Zhang Yuan with wide eyes. Is this true?
Zhang Yuan nodded. "I just called a deputy director of the directing department. He said Cao Yang sent out several invitations for the female lead, but no one responded. So he used an unknown actress, and she became the Berlin Film Queen in no time."

“It’s fucking incredible!”

Wang Shuo was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh in annoyance and pointed at Xu Jinglei, "Berlin Film Queen, you... "

Xu Jinglei threw the teapot away and lost interest instantly. The years were no longer peaceful. How could she be so leisurely and happy? She even felt annoyed when she went to bed at night... Wang Shuo!
(End of this chapter)