Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 509 The Greatest Support
Cao Yang focused intently on filming in the Disney studio for another three days...

Then Cao Yang adjusted the filming schedule for the following week, mainly focusing on filming some less important scenes.

There was nothing that could be done about it. Cao Yang was going to be away for about a week, and he handed over the rest of the filming to several assistant directors.

Starting September 11th, Cao Yang will temporarily leave the film crew to go to Venice, where he is expected to stay for four days before flying back to Los Angeles.

With the round trip and the time lost on the road, it would definitely take at least a week.

In Venice, the main reason is that Cao Yang is going to participate in the 66th Venice Film Festival. It's not that he has a film to participate in the Venice Film Festival, nor is he going to the Venice Film Festival as a jury member.

Instead, the Venice Film Festival invited him to deliver the closing remarks as an important guest and to present the festival's highest honor for filmmakers.

This highest honor for filmmakers was only established last year, in 08.

To put it another way, this was established by Marco Müller in the last year of his first term. He once told Cao Yang that he didn't know if he could be re-elected, because in the history of the Venice Film Festival, only one director has ever served two consecutive terms.

He is not very confident in himself.

As the saying goes, people leave their names behind, and geese leave their calls behind.

Marco Müller also wanted to leave his "mark" at the Venice Film Festival.

This highest honor for filmmakers was created against this backdrop.

Of course, every award, especially one that is directly positioned to be on par with a "lifetime achievement award," must have a seemingly "grand" purpose.

The Venice Film Festival's highest honor for filmmakers is specifically awarded to renowned filmmakers who are still actively creating and possess a pioneering spirit, whose works are known for their unconventional auteurism.

Even the award citation stated that it "redefined the boundaries of film narrative with poetic visual language."

It can be said that Mark Müller's ambitions are quite great.

Surprisingly, Maradona was re-elected, becoming the second person to serve a second term as the head of the Venice Film Festival.

This year marks the first Venice Film Festival since Mark Müller's re-election, and he naturally wants to get off to a good start, so he especially needs Cao Yang's support.

Old Ma is considered an old friend of the Chinese people, and his contributions to Chinese cinema are considerable.

Cao Yang would definitely support Lao Ma's request.

That's why he came to the Venice Film Festival.

The Venice Film Festival awards ceremony was on September 13th. When Cao Yang arrived, it was already the early morning of the 13th, taking into account the time difference.

However, given Cao Yang's current status, even if he arrives late, he certainly wouldn't be allowed to take a taxi to Lido Island by himself.

Old Ma still wielded some power in Venice.

The plane had just come to a stop at Marco Polo Airport when Old Ma's car was already waiting there.

After giving Cao Yang a warm hug, Lao Ma patted Cao Yang on the back with emotion.

"Although I already congratulated you over the phone, I still want to say it in person: Congratulations on winning the Grand Slam, which is the most coveted honor for countless filmmakers."

"Thank you, and congratulations on your successful re-election. This is the most coveted honor for the directors of the Venice Film Festival, and you have achieved it."

Cao Yang also smiled and said.

"Haha, as you know, because I gave the Golden Lion to China in the past few years, the European media criticized me harshly, almost calling me a 'traitor to Europe.' I never expected to be re-elected under such circumstances."

Old Ma was also deeply moved.

He was under a lot of pressure in the past two years.

As the head of the Venice Film Festival, the highest temple of cinematic art, he watched as the festival's influence declined year by year, and as viewership and advertising revenue decreased year by year, yet he still awarded the Golden Lion to China for three consecutive years...

He himself did not expect to be re-elected.

"Speaking of which, I still have to thank you. I know that you contacted many people during my re-election campaign. Although those people could not decide my re-election, their influence in Europe was the key to my re-election."

To be honest, when you all speak out together, no one can ignore your voice, including all the film festivals in Europe.

If you were to collectively boycott a European film festival, even one as influential as Cannes, it would force all its top officials to resign and issue an apology.

Old Ma said with a smile.

He knew very well that when Cao Yang was aiming for the European Grand Slam, some of these art-house film directors or producers who often met in private might have been unhappy, or even resisted.

That stems from some deeply ingrained beliefs within them.

However, once Cao Yang actually won the Grand Slam, the die was cast, and given his undeniable contributions and influence in the art world, these people began to change their minds.

They will truly accept Cao Yang, and may even subtly follow his lead.

This is why, after Cao Yang publicly voiced his support for Mark Müller's re-election, many other well-known art-house film directors and producers in Europe followed suit.

Ultimately, Mark Müller won re-election without any doubt, without even a slightly threatening competitor.

Arthouse film directors in Europe tend to rely on film festivals, especially the three major European film festivals.

However, when there are enough of these directors, and they are famous enough, and they are linked together, they become an unstoppable force.

If someone were to take the lead and these people were to publicly boycott a film festival, then even if the film festival were to be ruined, it would at least be severely damaged, and its influence would decline in stages.

After all, what kind of influence can a film festival have if it doesn't have big directors and big stars participating?
"Why say all this? I never expected that just by making a simple statement, so many directors and producers in Europe would follow suit."

Given our relationship, it's only right that I speak up for you.

Cao Yang said to Lao Ma with a smile.

Old Ma laughed but didn't say anything.

He knew that saying anything more would be too formal, and given his relationship with Cao Yang, there was no need for such formality.

The car drove all the way to the arranged hotel. Old Ma had everything arranged, and before leaving, he jokingly asked:

"Would you like me to make some arrangements for you? Because of the film festival, a lot of Eastern European models have come to Lido recently, most of them are seventeen or eighteen years old."

"Go away, go away, go away, don't harm me. You know I'm not that kind of person."

Cao Yang smiled and declined.

Old Ma laughed heartily and walked away.

He was just joking.

With Cao Yang's current status and influence, if he really wanted to do these things, he wouldn't need to do it at all. One phone call and countless actresses and models would flock to him.

After all, if those actresses or models could serve Cao Yang well and satisfy him, Cao Yang could easily take them to Hollywood.

Give them a little more resources, and they won't have to think about making a name for themselves in European art films first, and then looking for an opportunity to enter Hollywood. Hollywood is the place that European actresses and models are desperately trying to get to, and that must be acknowledged.

After resting for a night, Cao Yang had a meal and then had someone send over the materials for this year's film festival.

He had been busy with "Pirates of the Caribbean" and hadn't had time to pay attention to this year's Venice Film Festival, so he only knew that he needed to give the closing speech and present the highest honor for filmmakers.

As for which films are in the main competition at this year's film festival, especially whether any Chinese-language films are participating, he really didn't know.

Looking at the list of films entering the main competition, Cao Yang was somewhat surprised. Apart from one Hong Kong film and one Taiwanese film, there were no mainland Chinese films.

It can only be said that as the domestic market gets better and better, most directors have turned to commercial films, and there are fewer and fewer directors who actually make art films.

After all, art films are all about awards; if they don't get nominations or awards, it's hard to recoup costs.

On the contrary, commercial films seem to be easier to make. With a larger market, capital will definitely prioritize investing in commercial films when it sees how much money they make, and will rarely consider art films.

This trend will become increasingly apparent.

As for the jury chairman, it was not Li An as Cao Yang remembered, but an Italian director.

Cao Yang could definitely guess the reason.

Since Li An was removed from the main competition of the Venice Film Festival due to the copyright dispute over "Lust, Caution", his reputation has been greatly affected, and Venice will certainly not invite him to be the president of the jury.

It seems there aren't as many Chinese elements at this year's Venice Film Festival.

This is at least true in the main competition.

However, as the saying goes, Old Ma has always favored Chinese-language films. In the Horizons section, which is a second-tier category, four Chinese-language films were selected, which is a kind of alternative "compensation".

The most important part of the three major European competitions is the main competition section, but the secondary sections should not be underestimated.

Generally speaking, if a film can appear at one of the three major European film festivals, even in a lower-level section, it is an opportunity for international exposure.

Selling the copyright is quite easy as long as the requirements aren't too high.

Even if the copyright fees, calculated in US dollars, don't seem high, they will definitely make some domestic art films money and also enhance the reputation of the directors.

Moreover, Lao Ma also selected the Chinese-language film "Chengdu, I Love You" as the closing film of the film festival, which is yet another instance of "favoritism".

Although Hong Kong director Soi Cheang's "Accident" and Taiwanese film director Yang Fan's "Prince of Tears" were both selected for the main competition, neither of them received notification that they would be retained.

Actually, Yang Fan is from Hong Kong, but "Prince of Tears" was produced by Taiwan, so it is classified as a Taiwanese film.

Cao Yang arrived in Venice in the early morning of the 13th, while the Venice Film Festival's Horizons section had already given out its awards on the 12th. The Horizons section usually gives out its awards a day earlier than the main competition section.

Among the four Chinese-language films selected for the Horizons section, the documentary film "1428," which tells the story of the Wenchuan earthquake, won the Best Documentary Award.

Unsurprisingly, this year's Venice Film Festival compromised with Hollywood once again.

The Italians talked about revitalizing European cinema, developing Asian cinema, and focusing on African cinema, but in the end, they still selected 19 Hollywood films for various sections of the film festival.

It seems their slogan of boycotting Hollywood is a joke.

Of the 19 Hollywood films, 6 made it into the main competition, while Italy, as the host country, despite having the advantage of home ground and favorable conditions, only had 4 films enter the main competition.

Italy is always like this; they say no, but their actions speak louder than words.

Before his closing speech, Cao Yang met with Lao Ma and made a joke about this.

Old Ma was also helpless. He shrugged with a wry smile and said:
"Hollywood's growing influence in Europe is an undeniable fact. Not only Venice, Cannes, and Berlin, but which of these cities isn't intentionally increasing the proportion of Hollywood films?"

Then, he deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Does Venice lack Hollywood movies? Of course not, it lacks stars, big stars and directors who can bring attention to Venice."

Hollywood is conquering the world, and American stars have gained global influence. What can I do? I can't exactly boycott Hollywood and watch Venice decline, can I?

Cao Yang patted Lao Ma on the shoulder, indicating his understanding.

Old Ma then added with emotion: "Fortunately, you were there. After the news spread that you were coming to Venice to give the closing speech and present the awards, Matt Damon, Nicolas Cage, Julian Moore and others all told me they would come."

Big stars like George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Oliver Stone, and Richard Gere, who were previously hesitant, have now made up their minds and will appear on the closing ceremony red carpet.

In addition, a whole bunch of celebrities applied to walk the closing ceremony red carpet. I can only say that your current influence has exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.

Cao Yang thought for a moment, and didn't deny it, but still said:
"Actually, they didn't all come for me. It's just that after the media learned that I was coming, most of them came to report on it. With more media coverage, celebrities are willing to come in order to increase their influence by appearing more in the media reports."

"Haha, that's the influence you have!"

Old Ma chuckled slyly, nudged Cao Yang with his shoulder, and said, "So, you should know what to do without me telling you, right? Those media outlets are all here for you. If you don't give them interviews, they'll be disappointed, haha..."

Because of Cao Yang's arrival, Venice suddenly gained countless media outlets from all over the world, as well as many celebrities, which is a testament to Venice's influence.

Even if this is due to "borrowing" Cao Yang's influence, to outsiders, this is Venice's real influence.

Old Ma was very satisfied with his first film festival after his re-election.

During the evening awards ceremony, the Venice Film Festival presented its highest honor for filmmakers after the Golden Lion, in order to highlight the importance of this award.

The award went to Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone, and the citation praised his exploration and innovation in new-style action films.

It's worth mentioning that Old Ma (referring to a player) is quite skilled at balancing.

The Golden Lion was awarded to an Israeli film that is considered anti-war, called "Lebanon".

The Best Director award went to an Iranian director for her film "Women Without Men," a women's film that is also considered an anti-war film.

The Grand Jury Prize went to a German film, and the Best Actress award went to a Russian film.

As for the Best Actor and Best Screenplay awards, they all went to Hollywood films.

If you were to ask what awards the four Italian films that made it into the main competition won, the answer would be zero!
All the awards have been given out, and they forgot to leave any for "their own people," so Italy will just have to make do with it.

In Lao Ma's words, the jury president position had already been given to an Italian director, and he didn't choose an Italian film. What business is it of mine, as the person in charge of the Venice Film Festival? I'm not a member of the jury.

Well, Old Ma is quite good at shifting blame.

To balance the interests of all parties, Maradona chose to "sacrifice" Italy.

After the awards ceremony, Cao Yang attended the press conference with Lao Ma, as he had promised Lao Ma and as a way of showing his support.

That evening, Cao Yang met Charlize Theron again at the hotel after a long absence.

At over 30 years old, most white people already look quite "old," but Theron is a bit of an exception; she's just more mature and charming.

I couldn't sleep that night.

(End of this chapter)