A widower's entertainment

Beijing, Yenching Film Academy.

The news that Lin Zhaomei's film "Our Millionaire" was selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival was undoubtedly like a bombshell dropping at the Yenching Film Academy.

It goes without saying that the inclusion of films by other renowned Chinese directors in the Cannes Film Festival always sparks heated discussions. Now, the fact that a film by Lin Zhaomei, a third-year directing student, has been selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival is nothing short of incredible.

Yes, it's insane.

The storm first broke out on the campus of Yenching Film Academy.

Many people discussed this news, congratulating Lin Zhaomei, while some expressed envy and jealousy.

Lu Chuan was genuinely surprised that Lin Zhaomei had already made a short film called "Destiny" when she first entered the school, which won the Best Short Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Now, before she even graduated, she had already made a feature film, which was even shortlisted for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This made him feel very uncomfortable.

Especially now, hearing others praising Lin Zhaomei, Lu Chuan couldn't help but say, "Isn't it all because she has a good father?"

These words elicited nods of agreement from some people, who shared the same sentiment.

Lin Zhaomei was able to film feature films while still in school, and even act in Lin Youcheng's film scripts. The films also featured Jiang Wen, Zhang Guoli, and even Zhang Guorong, all of whom starred in her films. This impressive lineup was all thanks to Lin Youcheng.

"She only got the job because of her dad. If it weren't for him, she would never have had the chance to become a director."

"Not to mention being shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival."

Well, that's just how it is; jealousy can distort a person beyond recognition.

Lu Chuan's words resonated with many others.

"Yeah, she's really lucky. She got to make movies before she even graduated. We don't even know where we'll go in the future, or if we'll even have the chance to start as an assistant director."

"That's how it is. Who can blame her when her dad is Lin Youcheng? He just won another Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. If it weren't for Lin Youcheng's screenplay, I don't think her movie would have been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Maybe the Cannes Film Festival only included the movie in the main competition because Lin Youcheng was the screenwriter."

“That’s right. Otherwise, no matter how capable Lin Zhaomei is, how could a student be shortlisted for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival?”

"Yes, how could that be! It's all because of her dad!"

……

These comments continued, but even after these harsh words, someone would still say, "Regardless, her film is now in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival."

Upon hearing this, those who had spoken earlier fell silent, overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

Yes!

No matter how jealous these senior students are, Lin Zhaomei's film "Our Millionaire" has been shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival.

That's how it is. Lin Zhaomei was indeed shortlisted for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and she has a good chance of winning awards at all three major film festivals.

Even if you're so jealous that you ruin your face, it won't make a difference.

Even Lu Chuan himself forgot that he also had a good father, only his father wasn't as capable as Lin Youcheng.

Of course, more importantly, they all forgot that they had previously seen Lin Zhaomei's award-winning short film "Destiny," which received great acclaim in the domestic film industry, not to mention winning the Best Short Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

So what if she has Lin Youcheng as her father? She still made the movie herself. It just goes to show how ugly jealousy can be.

Although some people were jealous, most people offered their congratulations.

"Zhao Mei, congratulations! You're amazing! Your first film was nominated for the Cannes main competition."

Upon hearing what Section Chief Jia said, Lin Zhaomei quickly replied, "This movie was made by the entire team. The one who's amazing isn't me, but us."

Lin Zhaomei is naturally very happy and excited, but she is also very clear that filmmaking is a team effort. She cannot make the film by herself alone. It is like how she cannot do without the help of her father, Lin Youcheng. Whether it is the script or the wonderful performances of the actors she invited, all of these factors are essential for making the film "Our Millionaire" a success and for it to be shortlisted for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Section Chief Jia smiled and nodded, then said, "That's right, it's us, but Teacher Lin wrote this notebook much better!"

Section Chief Jia also knew that the movie "Human Wonders" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and Lin Youcheng also won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award. There is no doubt that the reason why famous actors were willing to give Lin Youcheng face and play roles in "Our Millionaire" was because the script was so wonderful.

If this really is a bad movie, well, given Lin Youcheng's connections, those actors might still appear in it.

This astonishing news is not only being discussed wildly at the Beijing Film Academy, but it's being talked about across the entire film industry.

There's nothing else to it, Lin Zhaomei is too young, she hasn't graduated yet, she's only twenty-one years old this year.

Twenty-one years old!

At this age, to have your first film selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival is truly amazing!
Newspapers and news outlets have also been reporting on this matter extensively.

Director Lin Zhaomei becomes one of the youngest nominees in the Cannes main competition.

Lin Zhaomei, daughter of screenwriter Lin Youcheng, has had her film nominated for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

A new talent emerges in Chinese cinema: Lin Zhaomei, a student at Yanying Film Academy, has had her film selected for the Cannes Film Festival's main competition.

……

News like this keeps coming, but this news is just too astonishing.

It's worth noting that this time, only Lin Zhaomei's film from mainland China was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival. As for Chinese-language films, only Hou Xiaoxian's "Flowers of Shanghai" and Cai Mingliang's "The Hole" from Taiwan were nominated for the main competition. Now, Lin Zhaomei's "Our Millionaire" will be competing against these two films.

This naturally led to widespread media coverage of the event.

Of course, such news is mostly confined to the film industry, as the general public is more concerned with whether or not an award is won. Duan Long from the Yenching Academy of Drama was undoubtedly very excited, as he hadn't expected his very first film to be nominated for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This was truly a pleasant surprise and source of great excitement for him.

Tao Hong said with envy, "Duan Long, congratulations! Your first film has been nominated for the Cannes Film Festival. That's really amazing."

"The one who's really impressive isn't me, it's Director Lin."

Duan Long was very clear in his mind that he was just a new actor who was chosen to play the role in "Our Millionaire" by luck. He had been working hard to play the role well. He was very happy that the film was nominated, but this was all thanks to director Lin Zhaomei and screenwriter Lin Youcheng.

Tao Hong nodded and said, "Zhao Mei is really amazing, but you are amazing too. I've heard Teacher Lin praise your performance all along."

These words made Duan Long laugh, and he was also very happy, because when they were filming on set before, Teacher Lin Youcheng had indeed praised his performance, believing that he had put in a lot of effort.

This made Duan Long quite excited, because it was an affirmation from screenwriter Lin Youcheng. Of course, Duan Long also knew very well that it was Lin Youcheng who had chosen him to play the male lead Xu Qingshan, so he naturally had to play the role well.

Duan Long's classmates were very envious of him. There was no other reason than that his debut film was able to be screened at the three major film festivals, just like Gong Li before him.

The three major European film festivals are truly amazing, but also far removed from the lives of students at film and drama schools.

Duan Long wasn't the only one excited; Zhou Xun, the film's female lead, was also thrilled. She loved the movie "Our Millionaire" and thought it was absolutely worth watching. Now that it had been shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, it meant she could walk the red carpet there, which was incredibly lucky.

Zhou Xun is now looking forward to this year's Cannes Film Festival and hopes that this film will win an award, because in her heart, this film deserves it.

……

Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

"Youcheng, it looks like you're going to the Cannes Film Festival this time?"

Xie Shuhua was also happy for Lin Zhaomei and said with a smile, "Go with your daughter."

The fact that Lin Zhaomei's film was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival is probably the happiest thing for the entire Xinghua Hutong courtyard right now.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "If she needs me to accompany her, then I will naturally go with her."

Lin Youcheng accompanied Lin Zhaomei to the Berlin Film Festival because he thought Lin Zhaomei was still too young, but now that Lin Zhaomei has completed a film and has been nominated for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, he is genuinely happy for her and quite proud of her.

Although the screenplay was written by him, it was actually filmed and edited by Lin Zhaomei. The fact that this film has been nominated for the main competition is the same as Lin Zhaomei's nomination for Best Short Film at the Berlin Film Festival – it's all because of her.

He has always been very proud of his daughter, Lin Zhaomei. She was admitted to the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy in her second year of high school, and she even ranked first in her major. Before entering the school, she had been learning from film crews. He knew very well that his daughter had always worked very hard, and as her father, he naturally wanted to help Lin Zhaomei achieve even greater success.

Even knowing that he created those good conditions and opportunities for his daughter Lin Zhaomei, so what? Who told him to be her father?

Because of Lin Zhaomei's nomination for the Cannes Film Festival, director Hou Xiaoxian from Taiwan called to congratulate him. Since Lin Zhaomei's film was in the main competition, director Hou Xiaoxian mainly congratulated her. He was very much looking forward to seeing a new director emerge, especially since this new female director was Lin Youcheng's daughter, so he was naturally even more excited.

Hou Xiaoxian and Lin Youcheng have a special relationship. Both of Hou Xiaoxian's top awards at the three major film festivals were related to Lin Youcheng. Now, Hou Xiaoxian is quite curious to see how things will turn out this time.

It's worth noting that Lin Youcheng's films have never come home empty-handed from the three major film festivals, so now we'll have to see if "Our Millionaire" will continue to win awards.

Lin Youcheng's congratulations to Hou Xiaoxian were naturally also conveyed to Lin Zhaomei, as this was primarily a congratulatory message to Lin Zhaomei, who was the film's director.

Lin Zhaomei knew very well that these relationships were all because of her father, Lin Youcheng, and she didn't care about them because that was the truth.

"Dad, can we go to the Cannes Film Festival with you?"

Lin Zhaole knew that his sister Lin Zhaomei's film had been nominated abroad. He didn't know much about the Cannes Film Festival, but he knew that Lin Youcheng, Lin Zhaomei, and Lin Zhaoqing had all gone to the Berlin Film Festival before. Now he also wanted to go to the Cannes Film Festival.

"No, because you still have to go to school."

The Cannes Film Festival is in May, so Lin Youcheng naturally didn't plan to let his child skip school to go abroad for fun.

Lin Zhaole was instantly disappointed when he heard his father Lin Youcheng's words, but he also knew that since his father had already said so, there was naturally no possibility left.

Lin Zhaoqing hadn't planned to go with them this time, as he was nearing graduation and needed to stay at school. As for Lin Zhaoman, there was no need to mention him; he would be taking the college entrance exam in just over two months, so how could he possibly go abroad?

Therefore, this time, Lin Youcheng was the only one accompanying Lin Zhaomei to the Cannes Film Festival.

Of course, Lin Youcheng also asked Xie Shuhua if she wanted to come along, but Xie Shuhua refused. Although there was a nanny at home, and her older brother and sister-in-law could help take care of her, Lin Zhaoyuan was still young and needed someone to help. In addition, she also had a job at school and couldn't ask for leave, so she naturally wouldn't go.

Lin Zhaomei was well aware that her father was accompanying her this time, and it was because of her that her father was willing to go to the Cannes Film Festival.

After all, even though her father's film won an award, he still didn't fly to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony, but now it's because of her that they're going to France together.

Lin Zhaomei was well aware of this.

She really hoped to win an award this time, just like at the Berlin Film Festival last time, because only then would she feel that she had not let her father, Lin Youcheng, down.

Moreover, Lin Zhaomei always remembered that she had said a long time ago that she also wanted to win the Palme d'Or.

Even though she didn't know what the Palme d'Or was at that time, she still said those words, and she hoped to keep her word and truly do what she told her father.

Lin Zhaomei remembers saying she wanted to win the Palme d'Or, but she doesn't remember saying she wanted to be the best director.

Only Lin Youcheng remembers this. Looking at Lin Zhaomei, who has grown up now, Lin Youcheng still remembers Lin Zhaomei when she had just graduated from kindergarten. With a smile on her face, she innocently said, "Then I want to be a director when I grow up."

"Dad, I want to be a director when I grow up."

He was still missing two teeth and spoke with a lisp, saying, "Then I want to be the best director."

Lin Zhaomei and Lin Youcheng always remembered that time. (End of Chapter)