Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 452 Sincerity
Just as Cao Yang was preparing to return to China, he received a call from Hou Keming.

In October, Lao Hou went to Germany with a youth delegation. His main purpose was to meet with Dieter Kosslick, the president of the Berlin Film Festival.

On the surface, it was about discussing a collaboration between the Beijing Film Academy and the Berlin Film Festival, but the real purpose was clear to everyone.

Furthermore, Lao Hou also subtly mentioned Xie Fei to Dieter Koslick, expressing his desire for Xie Fei to become the jury president of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.

To be honest, in order to help Cao Yang win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Lao Hou almost didn't want to act anymore; he just wanted to have one of his own people as the chairman of the jury.

As for whether the outside world would criticize or question if the goal was actually achieved, Lao Hou had also considered it.

But when he thought back to last year's 64th Venice Film Festival, when Zhang Yimou was the jury president, he still awarded the Golden Lion to Tian's "Pieta".

Although it caused a huge uproar in the West, to the point that Western media were criticizing the Venice Film Festival president, Marco Müller, calling him a "traitor to Italy," otherwise why would he have given the Golden Lion to a Chinese person for three consecutive years?
Of course, Zhang Yimou was also criticized. When Ma Xingzhi appointed Zhang Yimou as the chairman of the jury, it was to relieve Zhang Yimou of some of the pressure.

Even so, very few media outlets questioned whether Pietà was worthy of the Golden Lion.

Therefore, having one of his own people as the jury president, awarding the highest prize to one of his own, and then sharing the burden of the film festival president afterwards—Old Hou felt that he was doing this entirely for Dieter Koslick's benefit.

"Cao Yang, when are you coming back?"

"I'll probably be back in China the day after tomorrow," Cao Yang said.

"Well, Professor Xie officially received an invitation call from the Berlin Film Festival. However, there was a slight surprise. Dieter Kosslick did not invite Professor Xie to be the jury president, but only to be a member of the jury."

Old Hou said.

To be honest, when Lao Hou heard the news, his heart skipped a beat. This was the kind of unexpected event he feared most.

"The list of judges has been released. The chair of the jury is British actress Tilda Swinton. Do you know her? She seems to have been working in Hollywood these past few years."

Old Hou continued.

Tilda Swinton?

I do know Cao Yang; she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress earlier this year.

She also started her career with art films, became famous in Europe, and even won the Best Actress award at the 48th Venice Film Festival in 91.

It is worth mentioning that at the 48th Venice Film Festival, the two films that won the most important Golden Lion and the Jury Prize were both related to China.

Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern" won the Jury Prize.

The Golden Lion went to "The Spirit of Mongolia," directed by Soviet director Nikita Mikhalkov and filmed in China. The male and female leads, as well as most of the actors, were Chinese.

Yes, Nikita Mikhalkov was a Soviet citizen when he won the Golden Lion, but he wasn't a Soviet citizen a few months later.

Tilda Swinton made many art films in Europe, but probably reached a bottleneck in her career, so she came to Hollywood at the beginning of the new century.

At first, she could only get roles in low-budget art films in Hollywood, or as a supporting actress in some slightly larger-budget movies.

So far, the more well-known films she has participated in are Vanilla Sky, Hellblazer, The Chronicles of Narnia series, and Michael Crichton, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress this year.

People might not have a strong impression of her if we talk about these things, but they might have a stronger impression if we mention the Ancient One from Doctor Strange.

There's no way around it; even though she's acted in quite a few good art films, the audience for art films is too small to compare with the popular commercial films.

Cao Yang's most memorable film with Tilda Swinton is "Only Lovers Left Alive," which she co-starred in with Tom Hiddleston.

If I had to describe this movie in one word, it would be "cool"! It's just cool, incredibly cool!

At this year's 80th Academy Awards, Tilda Swinton won Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Michael Crichton," while Cao Yang won Best Picture for his production of "The Fault in Our Stars."

Furthermore, Cao Yang's "New Pirates of the Caribbean" won three technical awards: Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score.

At the Oscars dinner following the Oscars ceremony, Tilda Swinton even had a chat with Cao Yang for a while—well, that's a nicer way of putting it.

Even with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Tilda Swinton is at best a second-tier actress in Hollywood. She still struggles to land leading roles in mainstream commercial films and can only play important supporting roles.

Despite having already won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, her salary in Hollywood is still lower than that of Fan Bingbing.

There's no way around it; in Hollywood, a blockbuster movie can really make someone famous.

Look at Anne Hathaway, who gave a brilliant performance in "The Dirty Milk". She is now considered one of the most capable actresses of the new generation in Hollywood. She has starred in many movies, and her salary and resources are far superior to those of Tilda Swinton.

In Hollywood, which actress wouldn't want to get along with Cao Yang? Tilda Swinton was no exception, which is why she tried her best to find topics to chat with Cao Yang about at the Oscars dinner.

During the conversation, she talked at length about the interesting things that happened when she was filming art films in Europe. She was well aware of Cao Yang's status in the European art scene, and talking about the European art scene was a way to get closer to Cao Yang and make him remember her.

Don't think of Hollywood as something lofty and unattainable; it's actually quite similar to the domestic film industry.

Hollywood directors typically have a fixed cast of actors they work with, and they rarely use unfamiliar actors unless they have no other choice.

Has anything changed in Berlin?

Cao Yang has been busy promoting "Joker" during the day, revising the script of "The Founding of a Republic" when he has time, and thinking about the post-production of "Like Father, Like Son". He hasn't been paying attention to the news from Berlin.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any changes in Berlin.

“I called Dieter Koslick, and he said it was the result of his discussion with Sheffield, but he wouldn’t say anything more… That’s why I’m so anxious.”

Old Hou was indeed getting restless. Judging from the fact that he was now calling Xie Fei by his name instead of "Teacher Xie," he probably had some issues with Xie Fei.

"You should have gone to see Teacher Xie, right? What did he say?"

Cao Yang asked.

He wasn't particularly anxious, but he was also a little curious as to why Berlin had suddenly changed its mind. What did this have to do with Xie Fei?
Old Hou paused for a moment, then said, "Xie Fei... the teacher said that Berlin wanted to invite him to be the chairman of the jury, but he declined, saying that he was too old and didn't know if his health could handle it... but then Berlin changed their minds."

Cao Yang also fell silent.

Should I decline?
Chinese people have a habit of humility.

but……

Cao Yang suddenly had a thought and asked, "Director Hou, has the Berlin Film Festival announced the first batch of entries for the main competition?"

"No, usually the chairperson of the jury is announced first, and then the first batch of names entering the main competition are announced..."

As Old Hou spoke, his voice trailed off.

As a candidate for jury chair, Xie Fei would certainly know the first batch of names to enter the main competition in advance, meaning he should know this list.

As the dean of the Beijing Film Academy, Lao Hou is definitely a smart man.

After Cao Yang reminded him, he immediately realized what was happening.

Which Chinese films will be shown at the Berlin Film Festival this year?

Furthermore, this director has a very close relationship with the Beijing Film Academy. Most importantly, the film might be able to enter the main competition unit based on the director's reputation, but winning an award would be extremely difficult.

In other words, Xie Fei must have been able to see that this film was not competitive.

With all these factors combined, the answer becomes obvious.

Chen Kaige's "Mei Lanfang"!
Xie Fei is a director who has won the Golden Bear, and in some ways, he can be considered a close associate of the Berlin Film Festival.

What Xie Fei found so difficult was definitely Chen Kaige. If it were any other young Chinese director, Xie Fei might have even stepped in to "steal" an award, provided the film was of good quality.

Even if you don't win, it's not a big deal. For young directors, making it into the main competition is the biggest victory.

But Chen Kaige is different. He's a renowned director who has won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. He might not care about ordinary awards.

That's the key.

Xie Fei understands Chen Kaige.

For Lao Chen, "Mei Lanfang" must have been a very good film, otherwise he wouldn't have used it to compete with Cao Yang's "The Clown".

If Xie Fei were to swallow his pride and personally step in to award "Mei Lanfang" a small consolation prize, what would Old Chen think?
Would someone as arrogant as him feel that Xie Fei, as the chairman of the judging panel, was "humiliating" him?

Even if they don't think that way, they certainly won't be grateful to Xie Fei for a small, consolation prize. They might even think Xie Fei is useless and stop talking to him altogether.

But what if we don't give Old Chen a prize?

Hey, that makes it even more interesting.

Xie Fei stayed on to teach at the Beijing Film Academy after graduating in 1965, and was a key teacher in the directing department.

Back then, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Li Shaohong and others were the first batch of directing students after the Beijing Film Academy resumed enrollment in 78. Although Lao Situ was their class teacher, he was known for his documentary films, so Xie Fei naturally became their mentor.

As a teacher who became the president of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival, shouldn't you give your students an award?

But the quality of "Mei Lanfang" is undeniable. If the film had been as good as the first half, Xie Fei might have personally won a prestigious award for it.

but……

So Xie Fei is in a difficult position too!

"How significant is the impact?"

Old Hou was a little flustered, but he didn't know who to blame.

You might say Xie Fei is disregarding the bigger picture, but if he does this, his thirty-year teacher-student relationship with Lao Chen might be over.

But you can't blame Lao Chen for this. He must have decided long ago that "Mei Lanfang" would go to the Berlin Film Festival. You can't stop someone from going to the film festival, can you?

At this moment, Lao Hou deeply regretted his decision. He should have hired Zhang Yimou instead. Zhang Yimou was considered a close associate of Berlin Film Festival, and it would have been good to have him as the jury president.

On the other hand, in terms of closeness, Xie Fei, who has been teaching in the directing department of Beijing Film Academy, is the real one. Zhang Yimou, who is in the cinematography department, left the school after graduation, so their relationship is definitely more distant.

Cao Yang thought for a moment, then smiled and comforted Old Hou, saying, "Director Hou, don't worry, this matter won't have much impact. He's just the chairman of the judging panel; he can't decide who gets the Golden Bear."

"Really? Should I do something else?" Old Hou asked.

"Of course it's true, the ownership of the Golden Bear is not that simple."

Cao Yang said with a smile, "Really, Lord Hou, don't worry, and you don't need to do anything. Leave the rest to me."

After saying that, Cao Yang added, "Don't blame Teacher Xie. I can understand his helplessness. Teacher Xie is a very sentimental person and also a person who cares about his reputation. Just pretend that this never happened."

In fact, Cao Yang was very grateful to Xie Fei.

His debut film, "On the Beach at Night Alone," was shown at the Berlin Film Festival, where Xie Fei was a member of the jury.

Cao Yang's Jury Prize and Li Xiaoran's Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award were both won for them by Xie Fei.

As a newcomer, even if the movie is well-made and the actors perform exceptionally well, it is extremely difficult to win a major award without strong support from others.

Seniority is a system that exists everywhere.

The three major European cinemas place more emphasis on film quality. As long as the film is good enough and there is strong support from others, seniority becomes less important.

Of course, the premise is that the movie must be of good quality.

Just like Lao Chen's "Mei Lanfang," if Xie Fei thought the quality was decent, he wouldn't have risked offending the school by choosing to save face.

After all, Xie Fei is a veteran artist who has won the Golden Bear, and sometimes he values ​​his reputation more than anything else.

After hanging up with Lao Hou, Cao Yang did not call Dieter Kosslick, the president of the Berlin Film Festival.

Just as Cao Yang told Lao Hou, the change of jury president actually has little impact on who wins the Golden Bear, especially for the Berlin Film Festival.

If it were the Venice Film Festival, the jury president might actually have influence over the Golden Lion.

But the Berlin Film Festival is different.

Dieter Kosslick is not only the president of the Berlin Film Festival, but also its artistic director, commercial director, chairman of the organizing committee, and chairman of the selection committee...

In short, no one at the entire Berlin Film Festival could rival him in terms of power; he held absolute authority.

Of the three major European film festivals, only the Venice Film Festival holds elections every four years, and the festival president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.

The Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival do not have such restrictions. The presidents of these two film festivals are almost all "lifetime"—each president serves for more than 20 years and also holds multiple positions.

Just like Dieter Kosslick's predecessor, the Swiss Moritz de Haderden, who served as the president of the Berlin Film Festival from 1980 to 2001.

Dieter Kosslick took over in 2001 and has served for seven years so far, and will continue to do so.

Although the jury chairman has little influence over the Golden Bear, Cao Yang still decided to stay in the US for one more day.

He wanted to wait and see if Tilda Swinton, the newly appointed chair of the jury, would call him.

At this year's Oscars dinner, he could sense that this Scotsman, born in London, still really wanted to "advance" in Hollywood.

Of course, no actress who comes to Hollywood to develop her career doesn't want to improve, regardless of her public image.

Why not continue developing in Europe, the "center of arts and culture," instead of coming to Hollywood, the "desert" of art films?

Cao Yang didn't receive a call from Tilda Swinton immediately, but instead received a call from Disney CEO Robert Iger.

“Dear Director, are you free today? Haha, guess who’s in my office? It’s Tilda Swinton, the newly appointed president of the Berlin Film Festival’s jury, right here in my office.”

Cao, Tilda said she wanted to meet you, but she was afraid it would be abrupt to call you directly, so she came here instead…

Did Tilda Swinton go to the Disney CEO's office?

Cao Yang was a little confused at first, but then he remembered that Tilda Swinton starred in "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," which was produced by Disney.

In the previous film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Tilda Swinton played a witch. Due to the first film's global box office success of over $700 million, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" was released this June.

Unfortunately, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" had a production cost of $2.25 million, but its global box office was barely $4 million.

Of course, none of this concerns Cao Yang.

He thought about it and realized that it might not have been Tilda Swinton who went to Robert Iger's office on her own initiative.

To put it bluntly, Tilda Swinton may not even be qualified to "reach" Robert Iger right now.

In other words, it is highly likely that Robert Iger knew Cao Yang was going to the Berlin Film Festival, so he contacted Tilda Swinton, who happened to be the president of the Berlin Film Festival jury.

(End of this chapter)