New Age Artists

Chapter 683: The Underpants Are Gone
As news of the Berlin Film Festival spread, public opinion was in an uproar.

The box office of "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" exceeded everyone's expectations. I thought that with the opening of copyrights to rural areas and towns, and after the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the box office would drop significantly, but it still exceeded expectations.

All expected models and past cognitions have become invalid in the face of "The Return of the Great Sage".

For a long time, there has been a group that tells domestic audiences that China is not good at this or that, its culture is not good, and its market is not good.

But according to this trend, relying on the domestic market, "The Return of the Great Sage" may exceed 1 billion US dollars.

Who is it that is not capable?

Moreover, the popularity of the movie has created a grand trend, equating movies that were previously defined by some groups with synonyms such as art and high-end.

These people defined movies to show their uniqueness and privileges, but with their overwhelming victory in reality, the definition and standards of movies have fallen into the hands of Shen Santong to this day.

It was like cooking a pot of meat soup. Shen Santong not only ate it, but also took away all the bowls and spoons.

Whether it is the film standards defined by the West, or the definitions in China in the first thirty years, or the definitions after the reform and opening up, all of them were gathered in the hands of Shen Santong.

Moreover, with the real influence of movies, it has been elevated from film standards to culture and even to the competition for all definition rights.

Combined with Ning Hao’s refusal of the Golden Bear Award, for normal people, the narrative based on China’s interests has gradually taken shape.

Those who stand on the opposite side only feel the interweaving of inside and outside.

Internal cultural standards have been formed, external sacredness has been trampled upon, and a catastrophe has already occurred.

Give a simple example.

Mango TV likes to praise stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. It is not just saying that they have fallen, but that it can take advantage of the situation by doing so.

Under the Japanese barbarian standards, the mixed-race Hong Kong Island, the Niziwan Island, and the Korean who was the first bastion of the enemy camp, suddenly became the Dalit foreman in the hearts of these people.

This is the battle of standards.

Under this set of standards, the actual strength of the province of Tokyo can beat that of Korea, but under the Japanese barbaric standards, Korea is ahead.

Mango TV raised the stick and did some pulling and criticizing to show its difference from TV stations in various provinces in the country.

This behavior can bring them benefits.

Of course, it also objectively elevated the status of the Koreans and strengthened the Japanese-barbarian narrative.

The same is true for international film festivals.

Some people show off their status by elevating international film festivals and limiting honors such as international A-class awards.

As for the three major European countries, it is the same as in South Korea.

Whether in the past, present or future, the three major European countries have never given up on gaining benefits from the University of the East.

They want ideology, they want to make money from the Dongda market, and they also want to despise and belittle.

The highs and lows in culture are completely subjective.

As long as people believe it, they will also add the advantages of the Western narrative itself, its influence in culture, finance, and public opinion.

What is false can also become true, and it is very difficult to disprove it.

Such a difficult task was accomplished through internal and external discussions during the Spring Festival of 13.

"The Return of the Great Sage" proved that Chinese culture works, and Ning Hao slapped the Berlin Film Festival in the face and broke the sanctity of Western narratives.

Berlin Film Festival!
One of the three major film festivals in Europe!

What is considered a palace of art and a symbol of standards by many people has now become a urinal in a toilet.

It doesn’t matter whether Ning Hao did it on purpose or by accident.

The fact that this has been achieved shows that external interests are simply unable to restrain domestic entertainers.

Some groups did not dare to show up because of the terrifying influence of "The Return of the Great Sage", but this time they really could not sit still and had to jump out.

This is a battle for the great road!

Although it is only at the level of film art, it is also a dispute over the great principles.

and so.

While Shen Santong was extremely busy, domestic public opinion continued to ferment.

On social media, the topic of "Ning Hao refused the award" remained hot.

Some groups labeled netizens who supported Ning Hao's behavior as "nationalists."

A few years ago, recognizing one's own culture and being loyal to the country were considered derogatory in public opinion.

But now netizens are all like: It’s me, so what?
A visiting professor at a certain university shouted: "Beware of the Boxerization of the film and television industry. From Wu Jing's "Wolf Tooth" to this violent monkey, and then to Ning Hao's refusal of the award, they are all poisoning young people with cheap nationalist adrenaline."

"A true hero should wear a mask and question authority like in V for Vendetta, instead of holding a stick and shouting "I am here, Sun!"

The netizens who highly praised the comments not only opposed it, but also ridiculed it.

[Isn't Ning Hao practicing questioning authority? He hasn't even changed his V for Vendetta avatar yet. Are you bragging about being anti-authoritarian or foreign authority?]

【Last year you said that Sun Wukong's rampage in Heaven was a rebellion against tyranny, and this year you said that protecting the common people is a feudal dregs. How about you fight with your past self first?】

The literature professor immediately selected the comments, but found that it was not possible to operate as Dongtian Weibo had cancelled this function.

I couldn't help but wail, delete the post and run away.

This generation of netizens is not good!

The relevant departments are also discussing how to define the tone of "Ning Hao refused the award."

Ning Hao's refusal of the award was like a depth bomb, which detonated the public opinion field and triggered multiple discussions on industry interest games, identity recognition, and cultural standards.

Some people smell the smoke of gunpowder, while others see hope in it.

"It's not easy to handle."

"The Berlin Film Festival wants us to explain, otherwise we will be disqualified from the awards next year."

“Cannes and Venice have also expressed concerns.”

Some people are subconsciously timid, but others think more.

"This matter has gone beyond personal choice. On a small scale, it represents the cultural dilemma of Chinese films going overseas. On a larger scale, it is a collective appeal for 'both dignity and survival' under Western pressure."

“Besides, if we take a step back and put aside the domestic sentiment, what if we end up repeating the Oscar incident?”

Someone asked.

Then the cowardly person stopped talking.

With "The Flowers of War", the Oscars slapped them in the face.

I just wanted to please you by not giving you the award, but you turned around and insulted me.

Everyone has to have some shame!

And because of the incident of "The Flowers of War", the specific person in charge was caught in the act. After all, if something goes wrong, he has to be held accountable.

"Then, shall we push back?"

The one sitting in the middle smiled: "Why do you want to fight back? We always support the director's creative freedom, we always support freedom of speech, and we always do not interfere with the director's personal choice."

Everyone present was stunned. This sounded so familiar?

The person in charge of the Berlin Film Festival at Dongda University was waiting in the reception room of the Film Bureau.

He was just a film selector. Because of the urgency of the matter, he temporarily represented the film festival, and the headquarters asked him to put strong pressure on him.

The door opened.

A young man came and apologized, "The leaders take it very seriously, but we do not interfere with the director's creative freedom. The Berlin Film Festival wants to sue the producers of No Man's Land. Our laws do not favor anyone."

The film selector's eyes widened. These were their lines.

Thinking about the words I prepared when I came here: "Has your open policy changed?"

The young man waved his hands repeatedly: "I am at most representing the Film Bureau. What you said is too big. It has nothing to do with us."

Film selector: "Ning Hao hurt our feelings!"

Young man: “You sue him.”

Film selector: “Can’t you manage this?”

The young man was helpless: "We can't interfere with the director's freedom."

The film selector felt that he could take a step back and say, "You don't support his behavior, do you?"

The young man nodded: "This is his personal behavior."

The film selector said: "He violated the discipline, you should give him some punishment, such as prohibiting him from directing or something."

The young man's face changed. "The version of No Man's Land shown at the Berlin Film Festival is legal and compliant. Are you asking us to break the law?"

The film selector said, “It’s just a matter of your words.” The young man interrupted immediately, “We respect the director’s personal choice. That’s all I have to say.”

Looking at the dejected film selector, the young man was excited, but he still poured him a cup of tea.

The Beijing News and The Paper conducted in-depth analysis to interpret the power game behind the Golden Bear Awards, reveal the unspoken rules of international film festivals, and spark discussion on the difficulties of Chinese films’ internationalization.

Then let the self-media accounts focus on the fact that refusing the award is a form of self-isolation, eating up traffic from both ends.

An editor of the Beijing News wrote an in-depth article, "The Grudge between Ning Hao and Shen Santong," suggesting that the rejection of the award was a "taking advantage of the issue" behind the scenes, thus weakening the cultural impact of the incident.

After finding out that the article was not accepted, the editor knocked on the editor-in-chief’s door.

Editor-in-Chief: “You’re going a bit too far.”

Editor: "The person behind this incident must be Shen Santong."

Editor-in-Chief: "Don't have conspiracy theories. You can oppose Ning Hao's rejection, close yourself off and hinder cultural exchanges, but don't involve Shen Santong. Especially when there is no evidence."

The editor was not giving up: "Can you publish it on the media account?"

Editor-in-Chief: “Don’t expand.”

After sending the editor away, the editor-in-chief sighed. He also wanted to do something shady, but he didn't dare to.

Santong Entertainment’s movies have been going to the countryside for some years, and "The Return of the Great Sage" has completely opened the door.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change, which cannot be considered simply from the perspective of movies.

The signal is now very clear. When it comes to rebuilding grassroots organizations, movies cannot play a leading role, but they do show the people's support.

There is no reason for the smearing. Shen Santong has already retired. If he doesn't let it go, he will easily get himself implicated.

But the film industry can't avoid it.

With the development of Santong Entertainment, their living space has shrunk, and now "Ning Hao's refusal of the award" will completely cut off their interests.

Some of the fifth generation directors remained silent, while others openly opposed.

The sixth generation publicly criticized Ning Hao for "destroying the industry ecology", saying that his behavior "made it more difficult for Chinese filmmakers to participate in overseas exhibitions."

Independent directors such as Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai expressed strong opposition.

Jia Zhangke: "Ning Hao is a black sheep. International film festivals are now urgently assessing risks, and distributors and investors of many projects have withdrawn their investments from sensitive projects. Ning Hao's incident will make European curators more wary of Chinese films in the future. All of us who are serious about making films are implicated!"

Wang Xiaoshuai: "The financing of art films has become even more difficult. In the future, everyone will invest in mainstream or purely commercial films, and audiences will have fewer and fewer choices."

It's better not to argue.

If we have to argue, some things will come to the surface.

soon.

The Berlin Film Festival was completely wiped out, leaving nothing behind.

There is no need for Shen Santong’s secondary account. Santong Entertainment has already formed an interest group and naturally opened up a different media ecology.

It would be fine if it wasn't rated at the Berlin Film Festival, but if it was, it really wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.

First of all, the Berlin Film Festival was founded during the Cold War.

In this context, West Berlin at the time, as an "enclave" of the Western camp and a Western outpost, needed cultural displays to counter the influence of the Soviet Union and had important political symbolic significance.

The film festival was created to showcase American cultural freedom, with a strong intention of camp confrontation, and was part of the Cold War cultural propaganda.

Therefore, the Berlin Film Festival was founded for political purposes.

That is, to promote American values ​​of freedom and democracy through culture and art and to engage in ideological confrontation.

It cannot be said that it has nothing to do with art and culture, but it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

The identity of the founder, which no one cared about in the past, surfaced in the debate.

One of the main promoters of the Berlin Film Festival is Oscar Martay.

He served in the US Army and represented the US military in the cultural reconstruction of post-war Germany.

He was an intelligence officer of the United States in Berlin, and later became a film officer, and the executor of the United States' "cultural diplomacy" strategy after the war.

It aims to promote "American democratic values" through art and film and is responsible for implementing the "cultural de-Nazification" project in West Germany.

The real operator of the film festival is most likely from the US Army Psychological Warfare Division.

It’s hard to find information on this aspect.

But what is certain is that “de-Nazification” was in name only, not in reality.

Because the first artistic director, Alfred Bauer, had worked for the Nader film regulatory agency, Reichsfilmintendanz, during World War II and served as a film censorship official during the war.

The United States is simply using the cultural elites of the former regime, under the guise of indoctrination, to serve its ideological and mental propaganda.

Ball took the position when the festival was founded in 1951 and led it until 1976.

Therefore, the establishment of the film festival has a clear goal.

Showing off American liberal culture was part of the Cold War psychological warfare and information warfare.

After the reunification of East and West Germany in 90, the film festival quickly incorporated the former East German Film Archive into its system, completing the transformation from an "ideological weapon" to a "cultural united front platform", but the political nature deeply rooted in its genes still continues.

The surface is a temple of art.

In reality, it is still a cultural battlefield of geopolitics.

After digging it out, I found that it had nothing to do with art.

"Ning Hao refused the award" and can still use unscrupulous hype to make it seem like a tough decision. The background of the Berlin Film Festival has surfaced, and it is a real knife.

Knives are fatal.

It is not about destroying the "sacredness", but about proving that it was not "sacred" from the beginning.

A group of people who were playing the identity game of "everyone else is drunk but I am sober" suddenly collapsed and started to throw tantrums on the Internet.

Xu Mingyuan, a well-known film critic and former editor-in-chief of "New Wave" magazine, regards himself as a "rational critic" and has been writing articles advocating "art without borders" for many years.

In a long article published on Weibo titled "Ning Hao Refuses Award - The Tragedy and Narrow-mindedness of Netizens: A Farce of Populism Hijacking Art", he accused Ning Hao of politicizing art awards and that refusing the award was a cultural Boxer-style self-entertainment. Ning Hao's behavior proved that artists at the University of Tokyo are still trapped in the narrative of victims and lack real cultural confidence.

The comments of netizens are even more conspiracy-theoretic, and finally asked, "The Golden Bear Award is cultural colonization. What about the three major European awards? Why do directors from Tokyo University still enjoy it? Are we slaves?"

Silence is fine, the more they dance, the more doubts they begin to spread from the Berlin Film Festival to the three major European film festivals
Shen Santong rested for another two days.

There were pieces of clothing everywhere, in the living room, balcony, and bedroom.
Many stockings were torn into pieces, and a skirt fell on the sofa, torn in half at the neckline.

Yang Mi was fully prepared, but she was still defeated.

Radiant and staggering, he surrendered voluntarily, and the fight stopped.

Shen Sanfeng felt calm and refreshed, and even though he was almost 30 years old, his fighting power remained undiminished.

The assistant was not surprised and had long been accustomed to it. She reminded her boss: "Ning Hao is waiting."

Shen Santong: "What are you waiting for?"

Assistant: "I want to apologize to you in person."

Shen Santong: "No need."

It happened many years ago, and Shen Santong didn't care much about it and never targeted him.

Assistant: "He will definitely be worried if you do this."

Shen Santong thought about it, went on Weibo, retweeted Ning Hao's Weibo post promoting "No Man's Land", and booked a theater to show his support.

“Remind me of the premiere of No Man’s Land.”

Shen Santong wants to promote "No Man's Land" to sell more box office.

The reason why Ning Hao refused the award was the same as whether he was walking on the red carpet or was a celebrity on the red carpet.

Domestic celebrities don’t need to care about outside reviews, good or bad reviews don’t matter, as long as they can bring traffic and popularity in the country.

It was just an act of getting on the red carpet. Because of the cognitive inertia of the entertainment industry, people subconsciously cater to the Japanese barbaric standards and cannot slap them in the face on the spot and trample on the Japanese barbaric standards.

But the purpose is the same.

All for the sake of domestic interests.

After Ning Hao got slapped in the face, many of his colleagues will find that there is actually no cost.

If No Man's Land is a hit at the box office, there will always be imitators.

In this regard, Shen Santong believes in the vitality of the Chinese people. As long as there is a path, they can rub away the lawn.

After going to these film festivals many times, I will get used to them and start to enjoy them.

(End of this chapter)