Become famous another day.

Art is endless.

The end of art is that there is no end, and the perfection of art is that it can never be perfect.

This is the feeling that Lu Yanhe and Anna White had after chatting about movies these days.

Before this, Lu Yanhe had almost never talked about movies with someone so intensively.

The person he talked about the most before was Chen Siqi.

But that was purely "chatting", and talking to Anna White was more than just "chatting". He often needed to rack his brains and concentrate to find the right language to express and argue.

To be honest, it was tiring, but also very enjoyable.
-
In the week after the opening ceremony, Lu Yanhe publicly walked the red carpet for three film premieres:

Anna White also asked why he was less "expressive".

Lu Yanhe said that this was the premiere of someone else's film crew, and he was just invited by the film festival officials or the film crew to show up and help promote the film, so there was no need to be so high-profile.

In fact, during this week, Lu Yanhe did nothing but watch movies, sometimes accept interviews from film magazines, and sometimes attend parties and dinners hosted by others.

Anna White's schedule should have been very busy.

However, she put aside all the work she was supposed to do as a film magazine editor at the film festival and devoted all her time to Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe was also quite surprised.

Lu Yanhe didn't say anything. Even when he had a private dinner with some friends, he brought Anna White along.

Anna White was also surprised that he didn't mind letting her hear any conversations with his friends, and she even asked about it in private.

"Lu, are you the type who has a very performative personality? You don't need any private space at all?"

Lu Yanhe: "..."

Lu Yanhe said: "I just act upright and have nothing to hide."
-
The premiere of "Yellow Smoke" starring Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian was held on the seventh day after the opening ceremony.

Although it was not a shortlisted film for the main competition unit, there were many media outlets at the event because the two leading actors are internationally renowned.

In addition, many Chinese filmmakers will also be in attendance and walk the red carpet, so the star-studded event is still quite dazzling.

However, the film itself was not highly reviewed.

Anna said that "On the Xunyang River" has traces of copying and imitation. In fact, "Yellow Smoke" is truly full of traces of copying and imitation of the master.

The camerawork, color and style of the entire film seem to be greatly influenced by Liu Bige's "Late Spring".

However, Liu Bige captured the cruelty and pain of youth in a poetic and realistic way, but Song Hai does not have that ability. Not only are the transitions in several places in "Yellow Smoke" abrupt, but the actors' performances also fail to capture the best part. Even under the shaking camera, a kind of artificial blur is deliberately highlighted.

Lu Yanhe didn't know what to say for a moment.

Anna was silent for a long time. It was rare that she did not make any comments for a long time after watching the movie.

However, the convention of the film festival is that no matter how the film is, there will always be applause.

Of course Lu Yanhe also stood up and applauded them.

But, how can I put it? Lu Yanhe himself has watched so many dramas of Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian, both in TV series and movies. Especially Li Zhibai, no matter what drama it is, one can see his talent and aura in acting, that energetic and relaxed feeling, which is unique to him.

But in this movie, Lu Yanhe even felt that the tension between the two people's acting was gone.

They have become ordinary actors who act well but fail to impress the audience. This is not a problem with their acting, but the style and temperament of the movie itself, which infinitely suppresses their appeal in this aspect.

The director can’t do it.
-
In fact, after the failure of "Nineteen Years of Crime Records", Li Zhibai and Liu Manbo continued to collaborate on "Flying on the Grass", and Lu Yanhe was quite supportive.

Because although "Nineteen Years of Crime" has problems, its advantages are equally obvious, and the shortcomings can be completely eliminated through re-editing.

Lu Yanhe was able to see Liu Manbo's talent and strengths as a director from the movie "Nineteen Years of Crime Records".

However, Lu Yanhe could not see the movie "Yellow Smoke".

Lu Yanhe felt it was a pity.

Not only is the movie mediocre, but the actors also look so mediocre.
-
However, the irony is that Song Hai, the director of "Yellow Smoke", seems to have no idea about this.

The applause from the audience made him think that he had made a very good movie.

After the premiere, Lu Yanhe was chatting with Li Zhibai about the movie, when Song Hai suddenly came over with an enthusiastic smile and asked, "Yanhe, what do you think of Yellow Smoke? Do you like this movie?"

Looking at the delighted smile on Song Hai's face, Lu Yanhe realized that the other party did not realize that the film was just mediocre.

"A very unique movie-watching experience." This was the only answer Lu Yanhe could give.

Song Hai: "I am preparing a movie and would like to invite you to star in it. Are you interested?"

Li Zhibai had already told him about this matter.

However, after watching the movie "Yellow Smoke", Lu Yanhe no longer had any enthusiasm for working with Song Hai.

Lu Yanhe could only say: "Sure, let's take a look at the script first."

Song Hai: "Then I'll send you the script right away."

"Okay." Lu Yanhe nodded.

Song Hai turned around and talked to someone else.

Li Zhibai rolled his eyes at Lu Yanhe and said, "You are a dishonest person."

"I just pay more attention to social etiquette, especially at this time." Lu Yanhe asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

"It's OK," Li Zhibai said, "but the finished film really disappointed me. It was completely different from what I imagined when I was filming on the set. The film I thought it would be was completely different from the finished film."

Lu Yanhe shrugged.

"Qianqian just whispered to me that she was sorry and said that if she had known the movie would be like this, she would not have recommended me to act in it."

"What the hell? Qianqian?" Lu Yanhe shuddered, with an incredible expression on his face, "So disgusting."

Li Zhibai: "My nickname for my girlfriend is none of your business."

Lu Yanhe: “…I can’t stand it.”

Li Zhibai: "You can bear it or not, alas, this movie will probably receive a lot of bad reviews."

"Hold on."
-
Soon after, as the first wave of media reviews came out, the mediocrity and poor quality of the reviews for Yellow Smoke were made public, causing the situation of this film, which had actually attracted quite a lot of attention, to suddenly become delicate.

Fortunately, the distribution rights of the film have been sold in many countries, so there is no loss.

That means the issuers may not necessarily make money.

At film festivals, there are always a few films that, after their premiere, are not even released due to poor word of mouth, and just rot in their hands.

No one expected that "Yellow Smoke" would be such a movie.

Lu Yanhe met the domestic distributor who had previously bought the movie "Yellow Smoke" - also an old acquaintance of Lu Yanhe, the "small-eyed" Lan Tianqi, who had a worried look on his face.

"We spent 5 million to buy the domestic distribution rights for Yellow Smoke." Lan Tianqi said with an ugly expression as if he had eaten shit, "Now it's a waste of money. As it is now, the domestic box office is estimated to not even reach 10 million."

Lu Yanhe thought, that’s not the case.

The film is starred by Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian, and the box office revenue from their fans alone is more than this.

Although the actors’ ability to carry the box office is not that exaggerated, it is not that “useless” either.

However, the 500 million RMB to acquire the domestic distribution rights of Yellow Smoke seems to be not a buyout, but a profit-sharing model. In this way, it is indeed difficult for Blue Eyes to achieve profitability.

Lu Yanhe asked: "Boss Lan, didn't you watch this movie before signing the contract?"

"There were several companies competing for the rights at that time, and the initiative was not in our hands at all. In order to grab the issuing rights, we didn't care about so many things," said Lan Tianqi.

Lu Yanhe said, "Even if the quality of the film is good, it's an art film, and the upper limit of the box office for art films in China is so high. You won't drive up the prices, right?"

"You really underestimated Li Zhibai's appeal in the domestic film market. All film companies recognize him." Lan Tianqi said, "If the reputation of this movie was not so bad, there would be domestic companies that would pay more than double the price to take over the domestic distribution."

"..." Lu Yanhe thought, you deserve to pay the money for what you did.

"It's okay. Haven't you been acquired by Shijin? You don't need this little money." Lu Yanhe said.

Lan Tianqi: "Well, having said that, I am worried that this movie will not only lose money, but also damage its reputation."

"Then just don't release it and let it get stuck in your hands." Lu Yanhe joked.

Lan Tianqi: “…”

Lu Yanhe asked: "Besides this movie, what other movies did you take this time?"

"We have obtained the domestic distribution rights for two films in the main competition unit." Lan Tianqi said, "The domestic cinema market is not doing well, and people abroad also know this. Fortunately, the prices for the distribution rights of these two films are not high. We actually just want to buy them to expand our film library."

"Tsk, the shortlisted films for the main competition unit of the Bicaro Film Festival are just an expansion of your film library." Lu Yanhe gave a thumbs up, "You are rich and powerful."

Lan Tianqi: "Please stop making fun of us. You keep trying to make a lot out of a small investment, which makes others think that movies can be made with a small investment. You always use Linghe to criticize us. Life is so hard, don't you know?"

Lu Yanhe: "That's because we are not like you. You don't even watch the movie, but you drive up the price and snatch the distribution of a movie. We don't do that."

Lan Tianqi: "If we can produce good films stably, we don't need to buy films from outside, and we don't want to drive up prices."

"Well, then you can just produce it yourself." Lu Yanhe said, "It's not like you don't have a production department. There were a lot of news about various projects before."

Lan Tianqi: "Alas, it's hard to put it into words."

Lu Yanhe: "Then it's hard to finish."

He was too lazy to waste time talking to Lan Tianqi.

After listening to it, it really seems like he deserves it.

Lan Tianqi suddenly remembered something and asked, "Yan He, have the domestic distribution of your Hollywood movies not yet been finalized?"

"It has nothing to do with me. The production companies of those movies are not Linghe. I have no say in who they sell the distribution rights to." Lu Yanhe drew a clear line directly.

Lan Tianqi looked disappointed.

Lu Yanhe turned a blind eye.
-
The day after the premiere of "Yellow Smoke", Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian left Bicaro.

Their other work had been completed in the past few days, and they were just waiting for the premiere of Yellow Smoke. If the film received good reviews, they might stay in Bicaro for two more days to accept some media interviews and help promote the film further, but now the film not only received average reviews, but even their performances were questioned. How could they continue to stay here?

As first-line stars, their teams immediately chose to reduce their connection with the movie "Yellow Smoke" as much as possible at the public level.

This is actually quite helpless.

Two actors spent such a long time shooting a movie, but because the movie itself was not good enough, they started trying to distance themselves from it before it was fully released to the audience.

Of course, this is out of utilitarian considerations, but in order to protect yourself, you have no choice but to do this.

Lu Yanhe believed that at this moment, the two actors and their teams wished that the movie would never be released.

If it is never released, the general public will never get to see this terrible movie.
-
After the Picasso Film Festival entered its second week, Lu Yanhe's public work was basically over, with only the conversation the day after tomorrow and the work of the award presenter on the last day remaining.

In particular, most Chinese filmmakers left Bicaro as the promotion and event schedules of several films came to an end, and Lu Yanhe also had fewer private dinners.

Lu Yanhe specially invited Anna White and her family out for dinner on Monday of the second week.

Tucker occasionally has dinner with them these days, but goes to school most of the time.

Although he has received an admission letter from Harvard, he has not yet graduated from high school and still has some courses to take at school.

But in fact, some high school students simply stop going to school at this time.

In December, Bicaro is still sunny and has a comfortable climate.

This is a city favored by God.

While having dinner together, Tucker asked Lu Yanhe a question very seriously.

"I recently searched your information on the Internet and found out that you were an idol singer before you became an actor?" Tucker asked, "Why did you become an actor after you were admitted to university? I saw that you actually wrote a lot of songs. I also listened to them. The songs you wrote are also very nice."

Lu Yanhe said: "There are various reasons, but the bottom line is that I seem to have more creative passion in acting."

Tucker: “But you’d never acted before your first TV show?”

"No."

"So was your first acting performance good? I saw in your profile that you won a very prestigious award in China for your first acting performance."

Lu Yanhe laughed, "There are many reasons for this. First, the TV series I was acting in was directed by the best TV director in China. The work itself was good and very popular. Second, I played a role that was very close to me. I almost played it myself. It happened that both the director and my opponent, Jiang Yuqian, gave me a good stimulation, allowing me to act with instinct and intuition, and I had a good performance. Third, my character died in the end of the play. It was a tragic role, which made many audiences feel sad and the response was very enthusiastic. Fourth, the award was also being reformed at that time, and it was necessary to encourage and support young actors more. Under these factors, I was able to win the award."

Tucker looked surprised.

"Why does it sound like there are so many factors?" he asked, "Aren't the awards won by whoever performs the best?"

"I used to think so, but later I found that it was not the case." Lu Yanhe shook his head. "In this world, any famous film and television award is not given to the best actor. You have to be noticed first, then really act well, and finally you have good luck. Among all the competitors, you have a reason to win the award. Then, you have a chance to win the award."

Tucker frowned: "This doesn't sound very pure."

"Yes, it's not very pure." Lu Yanhe nodded frankly and admitted.

"Won't this be a problem? Won't it mean that people with real abilities won't be recognized in the end?"

Lu Yanhe shook his head: "I can't answer this question, but the current situation is like this. All awards are like this. In fact, every award has its own tendencies and standards."

Tucker showed a disappointed look: "This sounds too boring."

Lu Yanhe looked at Anna and asked, "Anna, what do you think?"

Anna shrugged and said, "I always just use the results of awards as a reference. In fact, often the final results of a film festival or a so-called award are inconsistent with my preferred choice."

Lu Yanhe nodded: "Everyone has their own choice."

Tucker: "Then what award is there?"

"I don't know how to answer either." Lu Yanhe smiled and shook his head.

“You’ve won a lot of awards.”

"Yes."

Tucker's expression became even more surprised, "Then you don't defend these awards?"

"In fact, compared with awards in other fields, awards in the film and television industry are the least in need of maintenance, and maintenance is useless. The audience has their own scale in their hearts. If the results of the award are recognized by the audience and the industry, then your award must be worth it. If the audience and the industry do not recognize it, then it is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst. The film and television industry is an industry for the general public. No matter what any authority says, it does not count. Time will prove it." Lu Yanhe said.

Tucker fell into a thoughtful state.

Anna said, "You just mentioned this topic. I also have a question to ask. As far as I know, several film festivals have invited you to be a judge in the main competition unit. If you accept, at your current age, you can actually break the record and become the youngest judge in history. This should be a very valuable achievement for you. Why did you refuse?"

"Me? The timing is not right. I'm always filming, or there are other conflicts of interest." Lu Yanhe said, "Also, when they approached me before, I didn't think I was capable of taking on the responsibilities of a judge."

Anna: "But from what I've been saying to you these days, you're not someone without your own ideas."

"That's why I don't dare to easily use my ideas to influence an outcome," Lu Yanhe said. "I'm not investing in a movie myself. I'm responsible for whether the movie is good or bad. I'm a judge at a top film festival. If I like a movie, I will definitely argue for it. I don't care about the overall situation or who deserves the award. If I like it, I will do my best to help it win an award. But I know that I wasn't that mature at the time. Let alone then, I don't even think my aesthetics are mature now."

“There is no such thing as maturity or immaturity in aesthetics.”

"Well, I understand now." Lu Yanhe nodded, "If I were asked to go now, I would definitely go if time permits."

"Hmm? Why is this certain now?"

"When there is an opportunity to win some honors for the movies I like, why not?" Lu Yanhe said, "I used to think people should know their own tastes and not use their own preferences to measure everything in the world. Now I feel that if I don't respect and support my own preferences, why should I expect others to respect and support them?"

Anna White: "You are definitely tougher now."

"In expressing my preferences and aesthetics?"

"Yes." Anna White nodded. "Under a certain age, people rarely say what they like and what they don't like as decisively as you do. Now, when they comment on something, I don't know why, but they start to say something that covers everything and has both praise and criticism, as if this is the only way to highlight their three-dimensional, comprehensive, and multi-angle thinking."

"Haha." The mean person is online again.

Lu Yanhe: "I don't like it either."

As he was speaking, suddenly, his cell phone started vibrating.

It was Chen Ziyan who called.

"I'm going to answer a phone call first. You guys eat first." Lu Yanhe said.

Anna and others nodded.

When he stood up, Anna and the others' phones suddenly started to ring with incoming message alerts, one after another.

Lu Yanhe looked at them in surprise, and watched them pick up their mobile phones. He walked aside and answered the call.

"Sister Ziyan."

"Yan He, the Jose-La Roche Film Festival has announced that it will be held around the world starting next year, and will accept applications from various cities starting from the next session." Chen Ziyan said, "The next session will be held in Yuming."

at last!

Hearing this good news, Lu Yanhe showed excitement and joy.

"Great!"

"Besides the people from the Film Association, the leaders of the Radio, Film and Television Bureau also contacted me to express their gratitude to you." Chen Ziyan said, "They want to meet you when you come back."

"Haha."

"In addition, Wu Yang also hopes that you can serve as the chairman of the next Jose-La-Jacques Film Festival's selection committee." Chen Ziyan said, "That's what he told you before."

"Is that really the case?"

"Yes." Chen Ziyan nodded. "This is also a reform that the Jose-La-Malaysia Film Festival will implement starting from the next session. From now on, the selection committee will decide the films that will be shortlisted for the main competition unit in each session."

Lu Yanhe said: "This——"

He said, "Okay, if he really wants me to do this, and not just be polite, I am willing to do this job. We will clear the schedule. The Jose-La-Malaysia Film Festival will be held in China for the first time. I must be there wherever I am needed."

"Yes." Chen Ziyan said, "This is a must. Then I will go and communicate with Wu Yang. Apart from you, I guess all other members will be foreigners. It is impossible to hold the film festival in China. You are the chairman of the selection committee, and the next member is also Chinese. You will probably still have a tough battle to fight."

"It's okay." Lu Yanhe said, "I've been the chairman of the jury once, so I'm a bit familiar with it. I'm not nervous anymore."

Chen Ziyan: "Yeah, OK."

"This is really good news." Lu Yanhe sighed again, "It's really great. Has the news been announced?"

"It hasn't been officially announced yet, but I guess the news has spread to many people." Chen Ziyan said, "Oh, shit, the American magazine Variety just released an exclusive report. The news has been leaked. Some media people have commented that they suddenly set up such a film selection committee and invited you to be the chairman. They said that Chinese capital has begun to erode art film festivals. We have to do public relations quickly. The public opinion is not in the right direction."

Lu Yanhe: "Let's wait and see. Ask Wu Yang. They must have made plans for various situations."

"Yeah." Chen Ziyan responded.

"Then I'll hang up first. I'm having dinner with Anna's family." Lu Yanhe suddenly remembered that when he answered the call, their phones all made a simultaneous alert sound and realized that they might have all seen the news.

Lu Yanhe said: "I'm dead."

"Okay, bye." Chen Ziyan said, "If you encounter a media reporter asking you about this in the next few days, you must not respond yet. We can't take the initiative to speak, we have to let Wu Yang announce the news."

"Okay, got it." Lu Yanhe said and hung up the phone.

He returned to the table.

Anna and others looked at him in surprise.

"Is this true?" Anna raised the phone in her hand.

Lu Yanhe said: "My agent called me just now and told me about this, but I can't answer you now because nothing has been confirmed yet. I am also waiting for the final confirmation."

Anna took a deep breath.

"If the Jose-Cebu International Film Festival is not held in Jose-Cebu International Film Festival, what is it called the Jose-Cebu International Film Festival?" Tucker asked directly.

Lu Yanhe said: "I know that the Jose-La-Jacques Film Festival has been looking for new sponsors. The local government is unwilling to continue to allocate funds to them. If they don't find new sponsors, they will face cancellation."

Anna asked in disbelief, "Has it gotten that serious?"

"Yes." Lu Yanhe said, "In order to ensure the independence of the film festival, the Hexi Film Festival has always controlled the sponsors to prevent the film festival from being affected by too many external factors. As a result, once the local government stopped sponsoring, it became difficult for them to continue." (End of this chapter)