Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 8 008 [The crew finished filming in March, the preferences of the three European golds]

In March, peach blossoms are as red as fire, and the spring breeze fills the garden overnight.

Time quietly came to mid-March.

"Kacha, it's done!"

As the shooting of the last shot was completed, Li Yishu breathed a sigh of relief.

The filming is finally completed. Next, I will spend ten days to half a month on editing and during that time, I will find someone to compose the music. I estimate that we will be able to see the finished film in early April.

If we hurry up, we can get it done before the end of the month.

Now that the filming is finished, let's go home. Right now China hasn't followed Hong Kong's example and held wrap-up parties yet.

Everyone packed up and half an hour later, they got on the bus back to Emei Film Studio.

Before getting in the car, Li Jian pulled Li Yishu to the side and said, "The filming is complete, and you have to pay attention to the subsequent editing. When the film is out, I will invite the leaders in the factory to watch it. If it is good, it should not be a big problem to arrange for it to be shown in the cinemas in our Sichuan area."

Li Yishu raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "Dad, I don't want to rush the release. I want to sign up for the exhibition first."

"Register for the exhibition?"

Li Jian frowned: "Golden Rooster? Or Hundred Flowers? Do you think you can win?!"

As an insider, Li Jian knows very well that these awards are not just awards, but also social skills!

He has been filming for more than ten years and has never won any major awards, so naturally he doesn't expect his son to win any awards.

"No, I want to sign up for the three major European film festivals!"

"Just you?"

Hearing Li Yishu brazenly saying that she was going to apply for the three major European film festivals, Li Jian couldn't help but laugh and said, "I'm not trying to discourage you, you're just too naive. You want to apply for the three major European film festivals for your first film? Do you want to learn from Zhang Yimou and win an award in Europe?"

"Dad, I really think there's a chance I can win the prize!"

"Whether there is a chance or not, we'll see after your film comes out."

Li Jian shook his head without comment, then turned around and got into the car.

Looking at her father's back as he got into the car, Li Yishu could understand his pessimism.

After all, these days the three major European film festivals can be considered the highest honor in the eyes of domestic filmmakers today.

Since it is an award of supreme honor, it should naturally be given to people with real ability.

So in the 1980s and 1990s, few people explored what kind of films could win the three major European awards.

It's like knowing someone's hobbies in advance so that you can cater to their preferences more accurately.

Although Li Yishu has never won or registered for the three major European awards, in the Internet age, she has combined award-winning films from the East and the West and used big data to understand the preferences of these three awards.

The Berlin Film Festival likes to explore human nature, focus on the dark side of society, care about the weak, and peek into some profound issues arising from national character or social system, witnessing the good and evil of human nature in extreme environments, with great humanistic care.

The selection tendency of the Cannes Palme d'Or is different from that of the Berlin Golden Bear Award. It is more inclined towards the artistry of the film. After ensuring that the film reaches a recognized artistic level, it must also have a certain degree of innovation and uniqueness. To put it simply, it follows the art and technology flow.

As for the Venice Film Festival, it does not have a clear direction like the Golden Bear Award and the Palme d'Or. The selection criteria are relatively flexible. Most of the winning films as a whole meet both high artistic standards and the preferences of many ordinary people, and can be said to be appreciated by both the elite and the masses.

In view of the different preferences of the three major film festivals, Li Yishu wants to apply for the Venice International Film Festival this time. "The Mountain, the Man, the Dog" does not meet Berlin's preference for challenging human nature, and the film art and technology do not meet the requirements of Cannes, so only the Venice Film Festival can give it a try.

The probability of winning the prize is about 50-50.

As for whether the film can be nominated, Li Yishu feels that it is about 90-10.

Because he knew that the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s were the eras when the three major European film festivals recognized domestic films the most and gave the most awards.

In 1992, Zhang Yimou won the Venice Golden Lion Award for "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", and Gong Li won the Best Actress award.

In the same year, Zhang Manyu won the Best Actress Award in Berlin for her performance in "Ruan Lingyu".

1993 was a big deal. Not only did Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" win the only Palme d'Or in China, but Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien's "A City of Sadness" also won the Cannes Jury Prize.

In the same year, Li An won the Berlin Golden Bear Award for his film The Wedding Banquet, while the film The Scented Soul Girl directed by Xie Fei from the mainland shared the trophy with him. (Double yolk egg)
In 1994, Xia Yu won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for his role in "Sunny Days", becoming the youngest actor at the time!
For three consecutive years from 1992 to 1994, domestic filmmakers won not only the three major awards in Venice, Cannes and Berlin, but also the Best Actress and Best Actor awards.

These three years can be said to be the golden age of domestic art films, with many outstanding directors emerging.

But there is another fundamental factor for winning the award, which is that the domestic film industry during this period was fully and actively moving towards European films.

After the reform and opening up, the domestic film industry wanted to go abroad, but faced two choices.

The first is to learn from Hollywood and make commercial films; the other is to move closer to Europe and make art films.

Perhaps from the perspective of people decades later, they will definitely learn from Hollywood's commercial blockbusters.

After all, the future belongs to the era of commercial films, and art films have almost reached the point where no one is interested in them.

But you have to know that in the early 1980s, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was still going on.

In 1981, the Soviet Union held a large-scale military exercise, mobilizing 50 troops, with transport planes dropping tanks, and it seemed that the steel torrent would sweep across Europe in just one day.

In such a great historical context, filmmakers tend to invest too much in anti-war ideas, humanistic thoughts, and political ambitions.

The three major European film festivals focus mainly on art films, so naturally they attract filmmakers from all over the world.

It can be said that the three major film festivals of Berlin, Cannes and Venice are now the highest film awards in the world.

As for the American Oscars, it is just a tool for people in North America to entertain themselves, just like the Hong Kong Film Awards.

What really hyped up the Oscars in China was that Li An later won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which then sold for hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

This is why domestic filmmakers who are preparing to develop into commercial films begin to dream of winning an Oscar and then selling well in North America.

Therefore, in 1991, the reason why the three major European film festivals were able to award major awards to domestic films for many consecutive years in the future was not only because the fifth generation of directors were talented, but also because the three major European film festivals needed to win over China's huge art film market.

Li Yishu also has the ambition to win an award, but whether she can win is still an unknown.

But as long as he registered and got the qualification to go to the Venice Film Festival, it was a win for him.

The 21-year-old young director's first film was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival, and once the news gets out, it will definitely cause a sensation across the country.

Now that you are famous, are you still worried that you won’t have the chance to make a movie in the future?
Not only fame, but also profits can be gained. Movies nominated for the three major European awards can basically be sold.

Just relying on foreign copyrights can bring in millions of dollars, not to mention local art films such as "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog", which are very popular in Japan. Whether selling copyrights or negotiating profits, huge returns can be obtained.

(End of this chapter)