It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 271: They just uploaded an uncensored video?! Fatty Yu is completely bewildered… (Seeking monthly votes)
"The nomination list for the 60th Cannes International Film Festival has been announced. Congratulations to director Wang Jiawei for his film 'My Blueberry Nights', which has been successfully selected for the main competition and will be the opening film."

"Zhang Manyu has made a surprise appearance on the jury list at this year's Cannes International Film Festival. This is her first public appearance since announcing her retirement from acting in 04."

"The 64th Venice International Film Festival has officially opened its film award submission channel. Jury President Zhang Yimou, together with all jury members, issued a statement welcoming filmmakers from around the world to the Venice Film Festival to share in this cinematic feast..."

"Yinghuang and Ruishijie jointly issued a notice that they will hold a press conference on May 6 for the start of filming of the movies 'Ip Man' and 'The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil'."

"Director Chen Kaige's new Peking Opera film, 'Mei Lanfang,' officially started filming today at the Huairou Film and Television Base in the capital."

"When reporters went to interview him, Director Chen clearly stated that the goal for 'Mei Lanfang' is: the Palme d'Or at Cannes!"

"..."

As May arrived, the film and television industry suddenly became lively, with a flurry of major news breaking out.

With the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals releasing updates one after another, Chinese filmmakers are gearing up for the big events!
The co-production project between Yinghuang and Ruishijie is about to start filming, and Chen Kaige's new film is once again aiming for the Palme d'Or, making the entire industry seem quite lively.

Following "Happy Together", Wong Ka Wai once again had a moment of glory!

"My Blueberry Nights" not only successfully made it into the Cannes Film Festival, but also became the opening film, which is truly enviable.

However, because it was a purely English film with no Chinese version, domestic media only offered a few token praises before ignoring it.

In contrast, the news that Zhang Yimou became the president of the jury for the main competition section of this year's Venice International Film Festival was heavily touted!
It's worth noting that Zhang Yimou previously won the Golden Lion Award for "The Story of Qiu Ju".

Now he has become the president of the Venice Film Festival jury. What's the difference between this and returning to one's mother's home and becoming the master of the house?
More importantly, his identity gave Chinese filmmakers a renewed hope of winning awards.

As the jury president, if he were to offer his support, the chances of Chinese-language films winning awards at Venice would undoubtedly increase significantly.

Upon realizing this, Lee Kang-sheng and Johnnie To immediately took action and sent their work to Venice.

At the same time, Li An was also getting impatient.

Post-production on "Lust, Caution" was completed. His original plan was to use the awards to generate buzz for the film and then successfully launch it in the mainland market.

But now, a thorny problem has suddenly appeared before him.

"I asked around in the bureau, and the chances of your current version passing the review are almost zero," Yu Dong's voice came from the other end of the phone, tinged with helplessness.

Li An held his phone, his brows furrowed.

Compared to Hollywood's relaxed censorship environment, he found the domestic censorship system utterly disgusting.

The point that sex scenes cannot be too explicit, in particular, hit the sore spot of "Lust, Caution".

He pressed on, still clinging to a sliver of hope, "So what do we do now? Didn't they say it's okay for imported films from Hong Kong to be a little more explicit?"

"Director Li, your finished film can no longer be described as 'slightly large', can it?"

Yu Dong's lips twitched as he recalled the explicit scenes in the film.

He clearly remembered that the last time he saw this type of movie in a theater was when "Titanic" was introduced to China by China Film Group.

But Kate Winslet at most only showed her chest, while "Lust, Caution" showed everything that should and shouldn't be shown.

The male and female leads even portrayed a state where they knew each other inside and out!
At least the adult videos of Xiao Rizi have some kind of censorship, but Li An went all out and released uncensored videos.

Yu Dong was already starting to have a headache. He could almost foresee the situation where he would have to use countless favors to get the film imported to the mainland.

"If all else fails, shall I change it?" Li An continued to probe.

Actually, he was feeling a little uneasy at that moment.

In Hollywood, such a level of explicitness is not a problem. After all, they dared to make films with subject matter like "Brokeback Mountain," let alone "Lust, Caution."

However, the strict regulations of the mainland market were like a roadblock, firmly blocking his way.

The issue of boundaries can be easy to overcome, but it can also be very difficult.

"How about this," Yu Dong offered a compromise suggestion, "I'll put in some effort and pull some strings."

"Aren't you aiming for a prize? If possible, try to win a big one. That should increase your chances of approval, since having an international award backing you will give the higher-ups more consideration."

Li An paused for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, let's go for the prize first."

This is the only urgent and necessary approach.

After hanging up the phone, he immediately contacted Bill Kong and, through Edko Films' channels, sent the completed film of "Lust, Caution" to the Venice International Film Festival.

Hong Kong is much more open than the mainland, and the review process went very smoothly.

But Li An did not relax. He secretly planned that after finishing his work, he would find time to catch up with Zhang Yimou.

It's important to understand that the chairman of the film festival jury has far more influence and authority than the ordinary jury members.

If Zhang Yimou is determined to support a certain film, then the Golden Lion Award is practically guaranteed!
And what Li An was aiming for was none other than the Golden Lion Award!
……

Liu Yifei's work on the music score went very smoothly.

During this period, she usually sleeps until 9 a.m. and then goes to work for three hours.

After lunch and a nap, he started to wander around with Lü Rui in the afternoon.

They explored almost every fun place in Los Angeles.

Lu Rui also took her to the headquarters of top companies such as Sony Columbia, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros. to broaden her horizons.

However, at night, her little feet, tired from a long day, couldn't get a proper rest, which was quite a source of distress for Liu Yifei...

Happy times are always short-lived.

The voice-over work had just been completed, and before Liu Yifei could enjoy herself with Lü Rui for a while longer, several brands she endorsed in mainland China were urging her to hurry back to shoot new commercials and attend events.

The originally agreed-upon one-month period was drastically reduced to less than half a month.

"Look at that pouty little mouth, it's almost big enough to hang an oil lamp on. Don't be unhappy, I'll go back with you tomorrow."

Seeing Liu Yifei reluctantly packing her luggage, Lü Rui couldn't help but laugh out loud. This girl really has a little girl's personality; when she's unhappy, she pouts, her little face scrunched up, looking both cute and silly.

"No! I don't want to disturb your work."

Although Liu Yifei also wanted to go back with Lü Rui, she was very sensible and knew she couldn't be too clingy.

During this period, because he had to spend time with her, Lü Rui's work progress slowed down.

She saw it all, and her heart was already in turmoil.

I want to stick close to him, but I don't want to bother him.

Coincidentally, she had other work to do back home, so she decided to go back first.

"I won't bother you. I'm going back to Hong Kong for the film's launch press conference, and I also need to go back to the mainland to organize the materials for 'Dying to Survive' to send to the Venice Film Festival. It just so happens that we're going the same way."

Hearing this, Liu Yifei's previously conflicted mood instantly brightened. Her pout disappeared, and like a kangaroo, she pounced into his arms, nuzzling against him.
"You're so kind, senior."

Lu Rui, supporting her soft waist and hips, said, "I'll have my assistant buy plane tickets and take you to Hong Kong for a while before we go back to the mainland together. How about that?"

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

"Okay, let's get down then. It just so happens that Spider-Man 3 is released today. I'll take you to see the movie first, and you can get a good rest when you get back tonight. We'll leave early tomorrow morning."

"No, don't get down, carry me out."

"Row."

She weighs less than 100 pounds, so for Lü Rui, who works out regularly, carrying her is naturally a piece of cake.

The two quickly walked out of the bedroom.

However, at this moment, the assistant, who was still packing her luggage, finally couldn't hold back anymore and complained: "Ugh! So annoying! They're always showing off their love, wanting hugs and kisses, don't they get tired of it!"

And then there's Director Lü. Even rabbits know not to eat the grass near their burrows, but he's the opposite—he just keeps eating the grass right next to his burrow.

Sisi is really something, running into other people's bedrooms every night without even pretending anymore. When I'm dating, I do it in secret with the lights off..."

Tatata!
The sound of footsteps suddenly grew closer.

The assistant, who was still muttering to herself, was startled and quickly shut her mouth, instinctively looking towards the door.

When she saw Lü Rui appear, she subconsciously asked, "Did you leave something behind?"

"Yeah, bring a jacket."

Lu Rui walked in and took Liu Yifei's coat from the bed.

But the next second, he suddenly reached into his pocket, took out a card, and shoved it into his assistant's hand without saying a word.

"Thank you for taking care of Yifei all this time."

"Oh? No, no, I'm her assistant, this is what I should do, and she has already given me a bonus."

The assistant waved her hands repeatedly, embarrassed to accept the card, since Liu Yifei had already given her one yesterday.

"Take it. She's been spoiled by her family and is completely clueless in daily life. You'll need to help her a lot."

Lu Rui stepped forward and stuffed the card into her pocket.

The assistant, unable to refuse, had no choice but to accept it, her face beaming with joy: "Thank you, Director Lü."

Lu Rui looked at her: "If President Liu asks you anything later..."

The assistant blinked, looking completely bewildered: "What do you mean? Sisi has been so busy with work lately, I've been following her around almost every step of the way."

Upon hearing this, Lü Rui nodded in satisfaction.

Liu Yifei's assistant is really great, so sensible!

……

On May 5th, the flight from Los Angeles landed smoothly in Hong Kong.

As before, Yinghuang sent a convoy, led by Huo Wenxi herself, to specially welcome Lü Rui.

"Tsk tsk? Did I come at the wrong time this time?"

Looking at the noticeably increased number of bodyguards around him, Lü Rui's expression was somewhat strange.

After all, he had offended quite a few people because of the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Huo Wenxi didn't know how to explain, so she could only say, "This was all instructed by Chairman Yang. He specifically instructed that your safety must be guaranteed."

“I understand.” Lü Rui nodded. “I will try to avoid going out alone these next few days. I will go back to the mainland after the press conference tomorrow.”

"Thank you very much for your understanding." Huo Wenxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Hong Kong film and television industry has been in a particularly chaotic state lately, with all sorts of shady characters emerging.

In this situation, safety is of course the most important thing.

The convoy traveled straight to the hotel where the film crews of "Ip Man" and "The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil" were staying.

Liu Yifei probably hadn't slept well. After arriving at the hotel and returning to her room, she drowsily lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

With his assistant around, Lü Rui wasn't worried. He went back to his room, took a shower, and then sent a text message to Lu Yang and Rao Xiaozhi saying "Arrived at the hotel."

The two quickly replied that they would be there soon.

While waiting, he opened an entertainment website in Hong Kong, thinking he could browse the news to pass the time.

To my utter surprise, as soon as I opened the website homepage, I saw a particularly ridiculous entertainment news item.

Chen Kexin is utterly shameless in her pursuit of money, even more so than Wu Yu, who split the movie into two parts to increase investment costs!
(End of this chapter)