Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 918 Exceptional Abilities
May 23, Beijing CPPCC Auditorium.

Chen Fan parked his car in a parking space in the square in front of the gate, got out of the car with the bag in his hand, and slowly walked towards the gate.

At this moment, several people were standing at the door looking around. When they saw him walking this way, they immediately hurried up to greet him. One of them walked in front and when he reached Chen Fan, he said politely, "Director Chen, Chief Xia has asked about you several times. He is waiting for you inside."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Thank you, I'll go in now."

Someone immediately led the way, and soon they entered the auditorium.

The auditorium was already packed, with all of the more than a thousand seats on both floors filled. Almost everyone had a smile on their face, chatting and laughing with each other, creating a noisy but festive atmosphere.

As Chen Fan was turning his head, trying to find where Old Xia was, several long poles and loudspeakers were suddenly thrust in front of him, followed by several microphones being held up to his mouth.

"Director Chen, would you mind accepting our interview?"

Chen Fan pulled back slightly and took a closer look. It turned out to be a group of photojournalists. He couldn't tell which news agency or TV station they were from. There were quite a few of them, more than a dozen at a glance.

The "long pole" was the long pole connected to the microphone, and the "loudspeaker" was the flash of an old-fashioned camera.

Fortunately, most people had new cameras with built-in flash, otherwise he would have thought he had traveled back to the Republic of China era.

Chen Fan coughed lightly, about to speak, but when he looked again, he was startled.

Goodness, a red-haired female reporter is mixed in with the group, and there are even foreign reporters. Is this some kind of "international award" event?

Looking further into the distance, there were still cameras filming. The cameraman was manipulating the equipment, aiming it directly at Director Chen. You could tell from his movements that he had definitely taken a super close-up shot.

Director Chen couldn't help but fall into deep thought. The Writers Association doesn't even hold an awards ceremony, but the Film Association is going to make such a big deal out of it?
Seeing that he didn't speak, the male reporter who had asked the question earlier said again, "We are reporters from CCTV, Comrade Chen, may we interview you? It will only take a few minutes."

Chen Fan snapped out of his reverie and smiled gently. "Okay. Please go ahead."

Reporter: "As we all know, you are a renowned writer and a film director, so you must have unique insights into film. What are your thoughts on this year's Hundred Flowers Awards?"

Furthermore, as a director, writer, musician, and audience member, which film or actor do you think is more likely to win the award?

Chen Fan's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "The Hundred Flowers Awards are an award chosen by the people through voting, representing their choice of films. Let's go on and on..."

What do you think?
I'm reading it standing up now, I'll sit down and read it later, and when I get back I'll take the newspaper and read it in bed.

To put it bluntly, apart from movies related to himself, he hasn't seen any movies these days.

He had seen a few of the older films he made before, but he had no interest in watching the "new movies" made in the last two years, no matter how famous they were.

It's simple. Watching the theatrical performances in the film just felt awkward. It wasn't that the actors were bad; it was just a generational gap in aesthetics, a pure mismatch of tastes, so he simply didn't watch it.

I've only seen a few of his films, such as "The Ferryman," "Love in the Clouds and Lakes," and "Shanghai Spy Shadow." As for "Little Lotus Just Begins to Bloom" and "Monk Comes Down the Mountain," those were movies he made himself, and I felt even more nauseous watching them.

At this point, the reporter asked him which movie or film he was more optimistic about.
He could only try to recall what he had written down during the meeting two days ago and paraphrase the comments of other filmmakers.

Films like "Ji Hongchang," "Tears," and "Little Flower" are all quite good. Chen Chong and Liu Xiaoqing's acting is excellent, Li Rentang's performance is brilliant, and director Xie Tian is superb...

After saying all that, the reporters' looks became increasingly strange.

After finally getting him to finish speaking, a woman next to him immediately asked, "Director Chen, you didn't mention 'The Ferryman,' 'Love in the Clouds and Lakes,' or 'Shanghai Spy Shadow' at all. Was it because you were modest, or to avoid suspicion?"

What?
Chen Fan blinked repeatedly. Were these three films also nominated?

Why did not I see?
The next second, he suddenly realized that he hadn't even finished reading the complete list of nominees. When he heard that his movie wasn't on the list, he just tossed it aside. Isn't that perfectly normal?

However, the original "Shanghai Spy Shadow" is one thing, but now "The Ferryman," which uses the story outline of "The Herdsman," which won the 6th Hundred Flowers Award, and "Cloud Lake Love," which uses the story outline of "Romance on Lushan Mountain," which won the 4th Hundred Flowers Award, have collided with "Ji Hongchang," "Tears," and "Little Flower," which won the Best Feature Film Award at the 3rd Hundred Flowers Award.

Who will ultimately win?
Tsk tsk tsk...

Director Chen suddenly felt a little regretful. He should have taken a look at the final list of winners the day before yesterday, otherwise he wouldn't be so itchy now.

Before he could speak, a hand suddenly reached out, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the side.

Everyone turned to look and saw Old Xia, his face dark, pulling people away. They were all too frightened to utter a sound.

Just kidding, when this old man gets angry, he dares to point his finger at their superiors and yell at them. How could these lowly soldiers dare to provoke him?

After the two disappeared at the backstage entrance, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then exchanged glances and scattered, each going off to interview the bigwigs.

……

Following Elder Xia into a backstage lounge, there was surprisingly no one else there except Liao Yiyuan sitting on the sofa.

Upon seeing the two enter, he immediately stood up and walked over.

Old Xia slammed the door shut with a bang, then bolted it shut and locked it from the inside. He then turned to Chen Fan and said impatiently, “After you made your suggestion last time, Lao Liao and I discussed a simple plan, and then we went to see Liao Gong and the leaders in the department.”

Whether from the perspective of united front work or the development of the film industry, they strongly support establishing a film award in Hong Kong.

However, there is one problem that is unavoidable now, and that is…

He gestured as he spoke, his eyes fixed on Chen Fan, "The tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease. Even if we want to settle things peacefully, the other side may not be willing. They demand that actors sign guarantees at every turn, which is simply outrageous. Right now, the divide between the two sides is completely irreconcilable. If we let our people take the lead, then most of the film companies in Hong Kong won't participate. If we let other companies take the lead, we don't trust them; can they guarantee even the most basic impartiality..."

After speaking at length, he turned and sat down on the sofa, his brows still furrowed. He looked up at Chen Fan and said, "We've been thinking about solutions for the past two days. Last night, Lao Liao mentioned asking you, the one who made the suggestion, to see if there's any way to resolve this."

If it hadn't been so late yesterday, I would have called you directly to think about what good ideas you might have, or if there was anyone suitable to help.

After he finished speaking, Liao Yiyuan walked over and said with a smile, "We've been thinking about this for two or three days, but we haven't come up with a solution at all. We just told Director Chen about it, how can he come up with a solution right away? You should give him some time to think about it."

He turned to Chen Fan, took out a cigarette and offered it to him, smiling, "Take your time thinking. If you come up with a solution, you can bring it up so we can discuss it together. If you don't, that's okay too, just consider it a casual chat..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and suddenly said, "This is simple. I'll nominate someone, and I guarantee neither team will have any objections."

The lounge suddenly fell silent.

Liao Yiyuan and Old Xia stared intently at Chen Fan. After several seconds, they looked at each other and then turned to look at Chen Fan again.

Simple? Neither team has any objections?
Do people say it?
Meeting their gazes, Chen Fan laughed and said, "It's like this, my cousin's company, the American Qianfan Group, is also venturing into the film and television business. They have established a new film company and television station in the United States, and have also acquired some smaller peer companies. In addition, they plan to expand their business to Asia when the time is right."

Since there's a need now, I'll call my cousin and ask them to open a Hong Kong branch ahead of schedule. Then we can hold an industry-wide reception, mention this matter, and have Qianfan Group handle the arrangements.

He turned and sat down on the sofa, flicked the ash from his cigarette in the ashtray, and continued with a smile, "Thanks to the publication of several best-selling books, Qianfan Group has a fairly good relationship with media and film companies in many Western countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom."

With them involved, the Taiwanese side would absolutely not dare to offend them, even if they knew about my relationship with Qianfan Company.

As for the left team, it's even simpler.

He turned to look at Liao Yiyuan and smiled, "Brother Liao can make all the decisions. In that case, many things can be discussed and negotiated, and we won't suffer any losses."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the two of them and asked, "What do you think?"

Old Xia smacked his lips, and the worry on his face vanished instantly. He picked up a cigarette, lit it, and as the smoke swirled around him, his smile grew wider and wider.

Before long, the two of them couldn't help but throw their heads back and burst into laughter, their worries of the past few days completely gone.

When the laughter subsided, Liao Yiyuan sat down on the other side of Old Xia, leaned close to him, and whispered, "Is this the legendary 'connected person'?"

Old Xia chuckled and said with a smile, "I think having connections is quite good. If it weren't for Liao Gong finding so many connections, our united front work overseas wouldn't have been so smooth."

He then turned to Chen Fan and said, “This young comrade has quite the connections. I’ve heard some gossip that he has connections everywhere, from the capital to the local areas, from China to overseas. There’s nothing that Writer Chen can’t do. Meeting him today, I can see that his reputation is well-deserved.”

Liao Yiyuan nodded in deep agreement, feigning mystery, "I've heard about it too, and just two days ago, Writer Chen did something big."

Old Xia's expression changed slightly, and he looked at him with great interest. "Oh? What important matter?"

Liao Yiyuan glanced at Chen Fan, who was slumped on the sofa with a blank expression, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his eyes vacant and lost in thought, looking utterly speechless. Liao Yiyuan then turned back and said softly, “He mobilized folklorists from more than twenty cities along the Yangtze River to write scripts about local customs and culture for him.”

The goal is to produce an unprecedented documentary that will showcase the beauty of the Yangtze River and its rich culture, promoting the scenic spots, splendid culture, peaceful life, and harmonious ethnic relations of China to people overseas.

He is certainly ambitious and has great aspirations!

Upon hearing this, Old Xia's eyes lit up. "Is that really true?"

He turned to look at Chen Fan, sat up slightly, and said with a cigarette between his fingers, "Little Chen, when are you planning to shoot this documentary? What's still missing? Do you want any actors to appear on screen?"
You told me you'd find people for me, actors from every film studio you could choose from... but could I at least see the script before filming?

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. He sat up and smiled at Old Xia, "This is just a promotional video related to tourism. There's no need to make such a big deal out of it."

Old Xia's expression immediately changed, and he waved his hand, saying, "Since it's for overseas promotion, of course we can't take it too seriously. In short, give me a call before filming starts, especially when filming in Shanghai. Let's all work together to make it as perfect as possible."

Chen Fan pursed his lips and nodded gently, "Okay, thank you, Elder Xia."

Let's pool our wisdom and efforts then. In the end, we have the final say on the editing. We can omit any parts we don't like, and if the leaders like it, we can just edit a version that they like.

Seemingly sensing Chen Fan's thoughts, Elder Xia chuckled softly, "Don't worry, your work is your work, and no one will interfere. At most, we'll offer some minor encouragement and support."

Liao Yiyuan nodded and smiled, "Besides, with Comrade Chen's extensive connections, no one would dare to touch his work."

Upon hearing this, Old Xia couldn't help but throw his head back and burst into laughter, while Comrade Chen helplessly leaned back and continued to slump over.

Is it really okay for two veterans to jokingly call themselves a newbie?
Having resolved his predicament, Mr. Xia's enthusiasm for conversation soared, and he continued talking until the host announced the upcoming awards ceremony from the auditorium, at which point he finally stopped.

Chen Fan glanced at the two of them and said, "Elder Xia, the awards ceremony is about to begin. Aren't you going out?"

Old Xia leaned back on the sofa and waved his hand casually, "I won't go out. I'm too old to make a fuss. You all go ahead."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow slightly. "If you don't go out, who will present the awards?"

Old Xia looked up and chuckled softly, "Zhou Yang is here today; he's presenting the awards."

He awarded all of them by himself?
Chen Fan blinked, wanting to ask a few more questions, but seeing that he seemed a little tired, he could only swallow his words and then turned to look at Liao Yiyuan.

Liao Yiyuan had already stood up, waved at him, and laughed, "Come on, let's go out and see the award winners."

(End of this chapter)