The Fleeting Years of Chinese Entertainment

"The Grand Jury Prize goes to: Apichatpong Weerasethakul's *Tropical Malady*. Congratulations..."

"It's over..."

Lin Mo suddenly murmured:

Although he really hoped to win the Palme d'Or, his film had already been released in China, so the censorship and evaluation process would be very strict.

The Grand Jury Prize was his ultimate goal, but as for the Palme d'Or... to be honest, he didn't even dare to dream about it.

"Xiaolin, relax. If I gain it, I'm lucky; if I lose it, it's fate. You're still young, you still have a chance."

Seeing Lin Mo's dejected look, Wang Jinsong couldn't help but comfort him.

"Phew... I understand, teacher."

Lin Mo took a few deep breaths to adjust his mindset.

"You're right, I'm still young. If it doesn't work out this time, there's always next time. I believe I'll definitely be able to get this Palme d'Or one day..."

"The Palme d'Or winner is: Parasite, directed by... Lin Mo! Let's congratulate Lin Mo on winning at the young age of 20..."

Lin Mo's mind went blank, and he swallowed back the words he was about to say...

While receiving comfort from Wang Jinsong, Lin Mo was completely unaware that the award judge on the stage had been changed to Xu Ke, and that Lin Mo's name was now pronounced in perfect Chinese!

"Linzi, it's you! It really is you!" Zhu Yawen exclaimed excitedly, her face flushed.

Jiang Wenli, Wang Jinsong, and other crew members standing nearby also laughed happily.

Chen Hong, in particular, was looking at Lin Mo with a strange expression.

She knew all too well how much her husband valued that Palme d'Or trophy.

"Heh... I really want to see what Old Chen's expression will be when he finds out that it was this young man, Lin Mo, who won the Palme d'Or."

"But we really have to thank this little guy! My husband didn't get to act in the Palme d'Or-winning film, but he fulfilled his dream through this little guy."

Lin Mo finally regained his senses after being reminded by Wang Jinsong.

Lin Mo stood up and looked at his teacher and Chen Hong beside him.

"Teacher... Sister Chen?"

The Grand Jury Prize and the Palme d'Or are both film festival awards, not individual awards, so Lin Mo's gaze at the two of them clearly signified his interest.

However, in the end, Wang Jinsong followed Lin Mo onto the podium.

"This director, Kobayashi, is amazing... so young and already..."

Andy Lau and Gong Li both applauded Lin Mo with smiles on their faces. They both thought that Lin Mo, this young director, had a good personality and deserved their sincere blessings.

But Wong Kar-wai was feeling a bit down, remembering how he'd given Lin Mo the cold shoulder when he first arrived in Cannes…

Unexpectedly, he ended up with nothing, while the other person won the Palme d'Or.

"Ha... So I was the clown all along?"

Upon reaching the stage, Lin Mo accepted the certificate, and Wang Jinsong accepted the trophy.

"Thanks!"

……

Lin Mo didn't even know how he finished his acceptance speech. He only vaguely remembered that he was so excited at the time that he seemed to have declared that he would come back to Cannes to bring back a Palme d'Or!

It was already past midnight in China...

However, employees of major news websites and portals have been actively busy.

After all… this is big news at the film festival!

"Warmest congratulations to 20-year-old director Lin Mo on bringing the Palme d'Or home!"

"Following in the footsteps of director Chen Kaige, director Lin Mo has finally won the Palme d'Or for China again!"

……

The awards ceremony banquet ended at 11 p.m.

However, news of Lin Mo winning the Palme d'Or continued to spread from Cannes to all parts of the world.

While Lin Mo was still asleep, the domestic entertainment industry was already about to explode.

It was even more exciting than when Chen Kaige won the Palme d'Or.

That day, all the headlines in the entertainment industry were filled with news about Lin Mo at the Cannes awards ceremony.

Countless filmmakers found it incredible…

Originally, they thought Lin Mo would at most win a third-class individual award this time, but they didn't expect him to actually bring home the Palme d'Or.

How could they not be taken aback and utterly dumbfounded!

However, after being stunned, they still posted messages to congratulate Lin Mo.

After all, no director has been able to receive this honor since Chen Kaige.

It's not just the Palme d'Or, but all the awards at Cannes; Chinese directors win very few of them.

Therefore, in the minds of Chinese filmmakers, Cannes is undoubtedly the most difficult of the three major European film festivals to win awards.

……

The following afternoon, after rejecting a number of film companies' offers to buy the rights to his films, Lin Mo boarded a plane back to China.

The arrival time should be the morning of the next day. Lin Mo chose this time to avoid some unnecessary trouble.

After all, he had heard that when Chen Kaige returned to China with the Palme d'Or, the airport was surrounded by a lot of fans and reporters. He was not as vain as Chen Kaige.

Unlike Zhang Yimou, Johnnie To, and Wong Kar-wai who came to Cannes this time, Lin Mo didn't come to compete for awards with the intention of selling the rights. After all, if he wants to compete for next year's Oscars, he also needs to be shown in commercial theaters outside the United States before the Los Angeles release. Simply put, it's just a global release.

However, he couldn't handle this matter; it had to be left to Han Sanping to resolve.

Moreover, he believes that Han Sanping is also happy to do this now, since Lin Mo's suitcase contains his biggest gain from this trip - the Golden Palm.

Chen Kaige has made a living off this stuff his whole life. Even if he never produces another masterpiece, the outside world cannot deny his status in the domestic film industry, or even in the international film industry.

Although Lin Mo did not intend to live off this trophy for the rest of his life, he could still do so for a year or two, and he could take advantage of this year or two to "develop and grow".

However, when he landed at the Capital Airport, Lin Mo discovered that his plans had fallen through...

He saw fans holding up welcome signs for him, and there were also many media reporters "patrolling" nearby.

"Wow, amazing... how did they manage to cause such a traffic jam?"

Although the news of Lin Mo's return to China was not deliberately kept secret, it was kept a secret for a while, and he even deliberately chose to land so early in the morning.

Lin Mo couldn't help but admire these domestic media outlets... and those fans holding up welcome signs!

Fortunately, he wasn't on the same flight as Wang Jinsong, Zhu Yawen, and others.

"I wonder if Xiao Zhu and the others were cornered by the media when they came back?"

With a hint of suspicion that he had been "betrayed" by his own people, Lin Mo secretly mingled with the crowd and slipped out of the airport.

I walked quite a distance before hailing a taxi. My destination was... the gate of Beijing Film Academy.

Because, given the style of the directing department at Beijing Film Academy, his Palme d'Or win would at least earn him a photo in the department's honor...