The only sun in Huayu

Young director trainees, especially those with formal training, have more or less harbored aspirations for the three major European film festivals.

At this moment, their faces showed varying degrees of shock and contemplation.

The rules that lie beneath the surface are laid bare under the sunlight, creating a tremendous impact.

"Okay, data is static, but people are dynamic."

Shen Shandeng switched slides: "Let me talk about my new project, 'No Man's Land,' and some of you will be involved in it."

"I plan to make 'No Man's Land' into an art film."

Shen Shandeng said, "Moreover, it is an absolute art film, and I will try to incorporate elements of magical realism."

Seeing the puzzled looks on some people's faces, Shen Shandeng smiled and explained, "But please note that the 'art' I'm talking about here is real art."

"It's completely different from the kind of 'art' that we just criticized, the kind favored by the three major European powers."

One student couldn't help but raise their hand and ask, "Director Shen, could you explain the differences in detail?"

“Good question.” Shen Shandeng nodded and said, “Let’s use the most recent example, the 61st Cannes Film Festival, which just ended, as a comparison.”

I switched to the prepared materials.

"This year's Cannes Film Festival has been hailed by many as a 'victory for European cinema.' But look, who is the jury president? American actor Sean Penn. They even gave a special prize to the veteran cowboy Clint Eastwood."

Shen Shandeng smiled knowingly. "So, once you grasp certain patterns, you'll discover many interesting things. Beneath the surface victory, there are undercurrents. However, today I want to focus on the issue of the boundaries of 'art'."

The projector displayed a poster and synopsis of the Palme d'Or winner, the French film "Entre les murs" (Between the Walls).

What story does this movie tell?

Shen Shandeng recounted, “The background is an ordinary neighborhood in Paris, France, focusing on a problem school that brings together students from different social classes, especially the poor and the children of immigrants.”

"The film depicts the daily interactions between teachers and students, and among students themselves, throughout a semester. The students come from diverse backgrounds and have different skin colors. Under the French education system, which values ​​freedom, these thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds are so lively that they are almost unruly, frequently challenging their teachers and leaving them feeling frustrated."

"Even so, the teacher in the film still upholds the rights of children as a vulnerable group, understands their difficulties as immigrants, treats them with the spirit of freedom, equality and fraternity, and on this basis, sets high standards for them and strives to impart knowledge."

"The film mostly shows these 20 or so students and teachers attending one somewhat relaxed French class after another, until one day, a black child hurts a classmate in class, and the teacher, in a moment of panic, says a racially discriminatory swear word, and the conflict erupts."

Shen Shandeng scanned the entire room and summarized incisively: "Does this sound a bit familiar? Essentially, this is the French version of 'The Ballad of the Clouds,' the main theme of French 'national unity,' and their narrative of unification."

"They even adopted a higher stance, portraying Middle Easterners, Asians, and Africans as students of white French teachers. They simply used a seemingly documentary and loose approach."

Shen Shandeng returned to the whiteboard, made heavy dots with his pen, and then drew a pyramid.

"These are the three major levels and standards of 'art' in Europe!"

“If you compare the Chinese films that have won awards at the three major film festivals, you will find that our films are rarely allowed to have such universal and grand concepts.”

“Even positive praise for basic friendship and family affection is often deliberately ignored or distorted.”

Shen Shandeng cut the pyramid horizontally and wrote the names of domestic films at the bottom.

Seeing the students deep in thought, Shen Shandeng further elaborated: "Of course, the three major European films also tell stories of hooligans and thugs."

"But the key is that their marginal narratives often implicitly contain a grand framework that they endorse, or a critique of their own social problems through a kind of 'construction'."

“And our marginal narratives, if they do not conform to their preconceived notions, are unlikely to gain recognition.”

At the very top of the pyramid, Shen Shandeng split in two: one side represents France, Germany, and Italy, while the other side represents the United States and the Five Eyes alliance.

Then, Shen Shandeng wrote down some countries at several levels.

The trainees discovered that Turkish films were ranked surprisingly high, while Iranian films were ranked in the middle.

The worst off are domestic films. They thought it included Chinese-language films, but it actually also includes Hong Kong films and Taiwanese films.

Hong Kong films and Taiwanese films are superior to domestic films.

Shen Shandeng wrote two words next to the pyramid: "Allies," and then two more words: "NATO."

"Therefore, the artistic standards of the three major European film festivals are largely based on the 'Great Alliance System'." Shen Shandeng then raised an even more perplexing question for the trainees.

“In the past two years, especially a year ago, Chinese-language films have received a lot of awards. But this year, have you noticed that Chinese films were nominated for both Cannes and Berlin, but ultimately went home empty-handed?”

"I can even make a prediction here: Chinese films will not win any awards at the upcoming Venice Film Festival."

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Shen Shandeng offered his explanation.

"Why? Because this year is an Olympic year! It's a big year for our culture, a year to showcase our image to the world."

"At times like these, we will be careful, and so will they. Needless to say, we certainly cannot allow some artists to sell out their masters for personal gain."

"As for the three major European organizations, they won't easily award prizes. Because awarding prizes means objectively increasing our cultural influence and voice, which is something certain forces are unwilling to see."

Shen Shandeng finally understood many of the inexplicable things that happened in this lifetime.

For example, why do certain forces use sarcastic and unsettling "grand narratives"?

In fact, some foreign forces on the internet also follow this set of Western artistic hierarchy.

Even if you brag about Er Mao, he can only be second in the world.

As the lowest level of the Western evaluation system, we are not qualified to engage in grand narratives.

Of course, they can't control this on the Chinese internet, so they just breathe on it like crazy, it's a stress response.

To put it bluntly, under the Western value system, Shen Shandeng is not considered a person; he is considered inhuman.

Shen Shandeng's "No Man's Land" has truly profound meaning.

From no one, to someone.

What the West most desires and wants to do is to return to the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

But they couldn't do it.

Actually, there's something even more interesting that Shen Shandeng didn't mention.

For example, at a time like the Olympics, Western film festivals are caught in a dilemma.

On the one hand, they must be sarcastic and unsettling; that's their job.

However, on the other hand, they cannot be too sarcastic or eccentric, because their very existence requires China.

Moreover, they also want the Chinese market. If they cross the line and get blacklisted, they'll be in big trouble.

In other words, they are in a state of frantically exhaling, but not exhaling excessively.

However, Shen Shandeng's restrained words were enough to dispel the mystique surrounding Western film festivals among these trainees.

The fact that these people were selected actually means that they are inclined to Shen Shandeng's ideas.

Saying these things to die-hards is useless; only brands like "Baleno" and "Apple" have the greatest impact.

By presenting facts and reasoning, Shen Shandeng was able to unite the majority.

To strike a small group, specialized armor-piercing weapons are needed.

Occasionally teasing the three major European film festivals during internal meetings is a small pleasure for Shen Shandeng outside of work.

He often thinks that people always argue that "art films are just like that," and that other countries also make award-winning domestic films.

But that's not actually the case.

There are different levels of "art," and the same marginal narratives can have different scales.

They are different. (End of Chapter)