Become famous another day.

Yet, despite this, he would do it again.

The more I understand the significance of the Jose-La-Jacques Film Festival being held in Yuming this time, the more I feel that I need to grasp it well.

Lu Yanhe wants to do his best to make it an unrepeatable and exciting event.

As the honorary chairman of the film selection committee, the film selection committee has already selected a preliminary list of 57 films from thousands of films. Of course, Wu Yang also suggested that if Lu Yanhe thinks that there are films that can be included in the preliminary list, he can also propose them and everyone will decide together.

Generally, the number of films shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Jose Antonio Film Festival is between 22 and 26.

Lu Yanhe looked at the list and found that among the 57 films, there were 7 Chinese films.

Among them is "The Unfinished Journey", a new work by Fu Kai, who has worked with Lu Yanhe on "Road to Glory".

The reason why Lu Yanhe was surprised was that Fu Kai had never contacted him from beginning to end and had not told him about the situation of the movie.

Fu Kai also didn't tell him that this movie was entered into the main competition unit.

At this moment, Lu Yanhe felt a little guilty and very moved.

The guilt was nothing else but that all the directors who had worked with him and were familiar with him took the initiative to avoid suspicion for him without even saying hello, which came from a little bit of indescribable sadness.

That's why I was so touched.

Apart from Fu Kai's films, the other Chinese-language films are actually works by film directors that Lu Yanhe is familiar with and knows, and there is not a single new director.

However, there are indeed few works by new directors in the main competition unit, and Lu Yanhe cannot force this.

In the list, Lu Yanhe saw several movies that others had sent to him with the request “Please take care of them”.

Lu Yanhe sighed in his heart.

How can a person keep himself clean and make everyone believe that this result is truly without his selfish motives?

For these works that received greetings, even if he does not consider these "greetings" at all, those that are shortlisted will always attribute part of the credit to the "greetings", while those that are not shortlisted will only feel that their "greetings" are not as strong as those of the shortlisted ones.

He said it a thousand times, ten thousand times, that greeting is useless, but the person who greeted didn't believe it, and the audience wouldn't believe it either. No one believed it, or they were half-believing and half-doubting.

Lu Yanhe sighed.

The result of understanding this is that you will stop thinking about anything.

See a movie.

In the end, only the movies will remain.

The final evaluation of his role as chairman of the film selection committee will only come from the movies.

Lu Yanhe stayed alone in the screening room for two whole weeks.

I watch three to four movies every day, concentrate on watching them, and take notes.

It was during this process that he suddenly discovered that his love for movies might be greater than he realized.

I thought I would get bored and annoyed because I was watching a movie so intensively. However, as long as I see a good movie, I won’t have such feelings.

Two weeks later, Lu Yanhe had his own ideas.

He made a list of the movies he had chosen and went to find Wu Yang first.

"Director Wu, how do we decide the final list of films for the main competition unit from these 57 films?" Lu Yanhe asked straight to the point. Before this, he had never asked about this issue.

Wu Yang said: "Do you have any ideas?"

Lu Yanhe said: "I have watched all 57 movies and I have a list in my mind, but it is definitely not up to me alone, right? What I mean is, you decide how to decide the final list, you set the rules, and I will give my result according to my ideas and the rules."

Wu Yang said: "In fact, we usually sit together and everyone proposes a few films that they think should be shortlisted, and then the films that everyone agrees on are finalized first. Then, including those that are selected later or controversial ones, they can be announced."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll follow your arrangements. When will you discuss this?"

Wu Yang said: "We are all waiting for your opinions. In fact, we have discussed these movies twice."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "My opinion has come out. Then why don't you set a time nearby so that we can meet together? I have reserved all my time, so we can meet anytime."

"Okay." Wu Yang nodded.
-
In fact, the film selection committee can generally reach a consensus on the greatest common divisor.

Everyone has eyes and can see those films of very high quality.

Relatively speaking, there is no consensus on works like "Three Mountains" whose author style is extremely obvious and easily controversial, as well as mediocre works that are just barely good enough to get a place in the nomination.

Lu Yanhe feels that the quality of the films in the main competition unit of this year's Holland Film Festival is quite good.

At least among the movies he has seen, there are three or four that he thinks are at the level of masterpieces. In addition, there are seven or eight works that he personally likes very much and that hit his aesthetic mark (especially these seven or eight works, there are not too many shortcomings in other aspects, and they are not the kind of works that are astonishing but also have many bugs and hit his aesthetic mark).

There are actually not many members in the film selection committee of the Jose-La Roche Film Festival, only five or six people including Wu Yang.

However, each of them is a senior industry insider who has been deeply involved in the film industry.

They are people who have attended the Jose-La-Jacques Film Festival one after another, and they know very well what kind of movies are good movies and what kind of good movies will be welcomed at the Jose-La-Jacques Film Festival.

When Lu Yanhe announced the list of works that he thought must be shortlisted for the main competition unit, everyone's faces were filled with excitement.

They looked at each other.

Lu Yanhe asked: "Is there any problem?"

Wu Yang once again confirmed the list Lu Yanhe showed him and asked, "Are there only two Chinese films on this list?"

"Yes." Lu Yanhe didn't expect that this was what surprised them.

Lu Yanhe felt a little ironic.

Even people on the selection committee of the Netherlands-Spanish Film Festival believed that he would favor Chinese films.

Lu Yanhe said frankly: "Among the 57 films in the preliminary selection, there are many Chinese films, but only these two really meet my standard of good films. The others are like many mediocre works. They have their highlights and are not good enough to be shortlisted for the main competition unit."

Wu Yang nodded and said, "The two Chinese films you chose are also on our must-see list."

Lu Yanhe showed a look of surprise.

"That's good." He felt relieved.

As long as the two Chinese films he thinks are the best are among them, he will feel relieved.

Otherwise, he would definitely have a good argument with them about them.

In this regard, he would certainly not be embarrassed to speak up for them just because they are Chinese films.

This is not the time to be shy about doing things that are not right.

Wu Yang said: "In fact, the overlap rate between your must-select list and the first list we selected is 80%, with only two movies being different. One is "Summer Shadows" and the other is "March 2st"."

Lu Yanhe nodded and asked, "Should we start discussing whether these two films should be shortlisted now?"

Wu Yang: “All is fine.”

"I listen to you," Lu Yanhe said. "I reiterate that although I am the honorary chairman this time, this is the Jose-La-Jacques Film Festival. I must respect your traditions and will certainly respect your opinions. Of course, I will also honestly state my attitude and choice. This is my mission as a filmmaker."

Everyone nodded.

Wu Yang said, "How about this, let's take the two movies we just mentioned and the movies that we think should be included but are not on your list, and explain why we think they must be included and why we think they should not be included, and then we vote by raising our hands, how about that? Of course, according to convention, we don't take the result of the show of hands as the final result, this is just a way to understand other people's views."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"it is good."

"Then let me start by saying something. The only shortcoming of Summer Shadows is that it was made by an unknown European director." Lu Yanhe spoke first. "I rarely see an art film that is shot so quietly and profoundly. It looks slow and peaceful, but it is like lying in bed during a nap and watching the curtains fluttering in the wind by the window. It attracts me to keep watching and triggers a lot of thoughts in me."

"This is exactly what I don't like about this movie, it's too stream-of-consciousness." A man with a short beard immediately spoke up and said, "I know that many movies like to play with this style. There are also many so-called classics in film history that are of this style. However, at the Jose-La-Señora Film Festival, such movies have never been recognized."

"Because this is an audience vote, and past results have proven one thing, that is, movies without stories will not be liked by the audience at the Jose-La Roche Film Festival." Lu Yanhe nodded, "I understand, but I want to ask a question. Audiences like stories because only with stories can movies be watched. Otherwise, it's just a series of pictures. But, when everyone was watching "Summer Shadows", did you feel that you couldn't watch it or it was not good to watch?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Lu Yanhe said: "I said, I think the most amazing thing about this movie is that although it doesn't have a strong storyline, it has a strange magic that attracts me to keep watching it without feeling bored or tired. Believe me, I am a person who writes commercial film scripts, I am not the kind of creator who is obsessed with stream-of-consciousness expression."

The short-bearded man immediately said, "I admit that most of us don't think this movie is bad, and everyone even watched it happily and smoothly. However, the viewing aesthetics of ordinary audiences are different from ours."

"No, the difference between the audience and us is only in the aesthetic analysis, but not in the aesthetic sensitivity. The aesthetic appreciation of art is something that requires the least threshold. It is a kind of intuition in itself."

"You're just saying there's a theory that's supposedly correct, but we all know it's not true."

"However, the reality is that film art itself is an intuitive art. It is a comprehensive art that takes the audience's feelings as its first touch." Lu Yanhe said, "We can't just eliminate a film that may create history in the main competition unit of the Netherlands-Spanish Film Festival just because of our self-proclaimed understanding of the audience, right?" Everyone was silent.

Lu Yanhe said: "Before I watched these 57 films, I told myself that it is better to trust my intuition than to set any standards for myself."

"If we were to make choices based on intuition, anyone could do it, not us."

“Not everyone’s intuition can keenly perceive things that most people cannot perceive so clearly.”

“You just said that the audience’s aesthetic feelings are no different from ours.”

"What is good and what is bad is an aesthetic feeling. Knowing clearly what is good and what the meaning of this place is an accumulated aesthetic intuition." Lu Yanhe said, "Of course, maybe you are right, but I still insist on what I said. Everyone can still choose not to choose "Summer Shadows" in the end. What I want to say is that there are more than 20 films shortlisted in our main competition unit. We are not choosing the best one, but among these more than 20 films, should we reserve a spot for such a film that is a little different, which we think the audience cannot watch rationally, but we ourselves feel very comfortable watching emotionally?"

……

This meeting lasted for seven hours.

When Lu Yanhe came out of the conference room, he felt a little dizzy due to lack of oxygen.

Wang Biao immediately handed over the kettle.

"Brother Lu, this is today's nutritious soup."

"..." Lu Yanhe took it, unscrewed the bottle cap, and drank two sips.

It's quite warm.

This is the nutritionist hired by Chen Siqi. She follows him every day and prepares nutritious meals for him.

Nutritious soup is his daily "tonic drink", it's just given a nicer name.

Lu Yanhe thought, how old is he, and he has already started drinking "tonics" every day.

But Chen Siqi said: "This is not a tonic, it just helps you regain some energy. You have so much work to do every day. I am also drinking this. Many of us are drinking this. Don't feel embarrassed."

"..."

At this moment, Lu Yanhe, who had been arguing with someone for seven hours, felt extremely comforted after drinking this soup.

Comfortable.

so comfortable.

Really fragrant.
-
Lu Yanhe met with them for almost a week and finally selected the shortlist for the first round of the main competition unit.

There are 19 films in total, including 2 Chinese films.

3 to 6 more films will be added to the shortlist later.

For a time, the Chinese-language film industry was in an uproar.

Why only 2 parts?
With Lu Yanhe as the chairman of the film selection committee, how come only two Chinese-language films were shortlisted?
There was not a single Chinese person at the last Picasso Film Festival, yet three films were shortlisted.

In previous years, there were always 2-3 Chinese-language films shortlisted for the Netherlands-Spanish Film Festival. Why is there no change this year?
-
Lu Yanhe's cell phone vibrated.

Someone sent him a message: "You really have no preference for Chinese films at all? I really didn't expect that. You have disappointed us so much."

Lu Yanhe was stunned.

This person...how should I put it, I'm not that familiar with him.

He is an old senior whom I met at a film review seminar.

They seldom communicate with each other in normal times.

Lu Yanhe never expected that he would send him such a message at this time.

Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment and decided to reply to this old senior. However, after typing for a long time and sending the message, he found that he had been deleted as a friend by the other party.

"..."

This feeling is quite depressing.

Lu Yanhe clenched his phone, hesitated for a moment, and let himself exhale.

This is what you are destined to encounter from the moment you make the choice.

Just accept it.

There will definitely be people who don’t understand.

There will definitely be people who think he is an ungrateful person.

Lu Yanhe turned off his phone directly.

But after five minutes, he suddenly remembered that he had another call to make.

He quickly turned on the phone again.

Just when I was about to call that person, a message suddenly came in on my phone.

It was sent by Director Fu Kai: Don’t feel pressured, ignore the extreme remarks attacking you, just stick to what you believe in, it’s okay.

Lu Yanhe's eyes instantly turned red at this moment.

Fu Kai's "The Unfinished Path" was also shortlisted for the preliminary list, however, it was not among the two Chinese films supported by Lu Yanhe because he felt that although the film took the path of black humor, it was not innovative and had heavy traces of commercial routines. It was just a mold of authorial expression.

But this is only an objective reason.

Regarding the cooperative relationship between Lu Yanhe and Fu Kai, he should give Fu Kai an explanation.

Who would have thought that Fu Kai would actually take the initiative to send such a message.

Lu Yanhe made a phone call.

"director."

"Yan He." Fu Kai's voice seemed to be full of laughter. "You're having a headache lately, right?"

"It's a headache." Lu Yanhe smiled bitterly, but immediately fell into guilt, "Sorry, Director."

"It's okay." Fu Kai said, "Let's not talk about this. When 'The Endless Path' is released, you still have to help me promote it."

"Of course." Lu Yanhe said, "Director, this is what I am calling you about. I have something to discuss with you."

"Hmm?" Fu Kai asked, "What's the matter?"

"Although 'The Path Unended' was not shortlisted for the main competition unit, it is not because it is not good, but because it is not very suitable for the tone of the Jose Film Festival," said Lu Yanhe.

Fu Kai said: "I understand. In fact, I made the movie myself. I know best what it is like."

"Director, are you willing to let this film be screened in the World Premiere section?" Lu Yanhe said, "Although it is not participating in the competition, it is very suitable for premiering at the Jose-Jacques Film Festival. It is a film that will be well received by the audience. If you are willing to put it in the World Premiere section, the Jose-Jacques Film Festival will use the best media resources to promote this film."

Upon hearing this, Fu Kai immediately said, "Of course that's good. If the film can sell some overseas distribution rights at the Jose-La Roche Film Festival, I will have less pressure to make back my investment. The main investor of this film is my own film company, and I am under so much pressure that my hair is falling out."

Lu Yanhe said: "That's great, I will use my greatest resources to promote this movie."

Fu Kai smiled and said, "No, we don't need to do this."
-
No matter how many people in the circle scolded Lu Yanhe, Lu Yanhe turned a deaf ear to them and quietly did his own thing and made follow-up arrangements.

When the supplementary list was released, another Chinese film was included.

Many people think that it was because of the public pressure from the Chinese film industry that Lu Yanhe gave the green light to this Chinese film when he supplemented the list.

Wu Yang explained the supplementary list at the press conference, saying: "This supplementary list is actually based on the 57 films that were not announced in the first round of the main competition unit. The selection committee voted on the films that were not announced in the first round. The list was decided based on the number of votes. It was not decided by Lu Yanhe alone. In fact, Lu Yanhe had a favorite movie. We discussed it together for a whole week. In the end, we were all convinced by him that the movies he liked and selected had all been shortlisted in the first round. Everyone said that the Chinese movie in the supplementary list was selected by Lu Yanhe, which is completely inconsistent with the actual situation."

Wu Yang's explanation did not help Lu Yanhe's situation much.

However, what Lu Yanhe found incredible and even ridiculous was that the senior who had deleted him actually wanted to add him back and sent him a friend request.

Lu Yanhe was silent for a long time and decided to ignore this friend request.

Wait until the opening of the Jose-Hi Film Festival.

Lu Yanhe held Chen Siqi's hand and wore a dark gold men's haute couture suit for the first time, making a high-profile appearance.

All the media and cameras at the scene were frantically capturing his every move on the red carpet.

Lu Yanhe's unprecedented high-profile attitude is totally inconsistent with his style. And at this critical moment, he did not choose to keep a low profile. It really seems like a declaration of war: "Do whatever you want, and I lose if I pay attention to you."

At the scene, Lu Yanhe was interviewed by reporters. When asked why he chose such a high-profile look, Lu Yanhe said: "For the hosting of this Jose-La-Cebu International Film Festival, I almost used up all my friends, exhausted my energy, and offended a group of people. I didn't want to be high-profile, but I also don't want to be low-key at this so-called cusp. I know that I am worthy of everyone." (End of this chapter)