HuaYu: A Great Director Starting with Dream of the Red Chamber

The color of the Adriatic Sea is quite different from that in China; it's a deep, vibrant blue.

It's not that the moon is rounder abroad; there's supposedly a geographical basis for it, which seems to be related to ocean currents.

Li Yan didn't quite understand either.

But it did give the newcomers, including Naza, a little shock.

After leaving Marco Polo Airport, the group boarded a water bus bound for Lido Island.

Unlike the winding waterways of Venice's main island.

The island of Lido, where the film festival is located, is more like a long, narrow resort.

Outside the medieval-style building, colorful banners and a huge golden lion logo are hung, all indicating that a film festival is being held here.

Any random passerby on the street looks either like a fashionable celebrity or a media reporter carrying a long camera.

"Have we arrived?"

Zhang Qiang clung to the gunwale, refusing to pull back even as the sea breeze made his bald head ache, his eyes constantly darting around.

It's no different from a pilgrim finally seeing Mount Kailash.

"The three major ones..."

Zhang Qiang muttered something under his breath, then turned to look at Li Yan beside him and sighed:

"Junior brother, does this mean we're... on the table?!"

Once ashore, Naza, who had been gripping the gunwale tightly, finally let go and breathed a long sigh of relief.

She can't swim, but she's from Xinjiang, so it's understandable.

However, being a young girl, she immediately became excited as soon as her feet touched the ground and she saw all the new and exciting things on the street.

Clinging to Ding Xiaoxiao's arm, she muttered to herself like a curious child:

"Young lady, look at that blonde beauty, doesn't she look like so-and-so? The one from 'Transformers'?"

"Megan Fox? She doesn't look like it, it shouldn't be her..."

"Oh well, whatever, he has such a great figure, he must be a celebrity... Hey, isn't that Tom Ford? If we knew him, could we get a discount on lipstick?!"

"..." Ding Xiaoxiao was dragged along in front of her with a helpless expression.

In contrast, Li Yan was a bit too calm.

Looking at St. Mark's Square and the Basilica in the distance, his first reaction was nothing else.

Instead, he used eagle eyes to see where he could climb up for a leap of faith!

After all, he had been to this place many times in his past life.

……

The hotel arranged by the authorities is a bit far from the pier.

After checking in, the group went straight to the vicinity of the cinema without even taking a break.

This is the heart of the entire film festival, with huge posters everywhere.

The most prominent position is occupied by a somewhat somber poster for "Lebanon" by Israeli director Samuel Maoz.

Zhang Qiang looked up for a while and commented, "This movie is so depressing."

Li Yan glanced at it and chuckled to himself.

Suppressed? That's called "profound".

Even if this film is a complete mess, based on its subject matter and Jewish background, it's a shoo-in for this year's Golden Lion Award, and no one else can even dream of it!

Looking further to the side, the lineup of Chinese-language films this year is rather average.

The main competition section features only two Hong Kong films: Soi Cheang's "Accident" and Yang Fan's "Prince of Tears".

As for the Horizons section, besides his "The Tuner," the most eye-catching one is Guan Hu's "Bullfight."

The poster was the largest one, with Huang Bo standing on it, looking disheveled and grinning.

Among a sea of ​​artsy posters, it looks incredibly wild, or rather... tacky?

"Where are ours? Where are ours?"

Ding Xiaoxiao and Nazha looked around carefully, searching for a long time among the colorful promotional boards.

Finally, in an inconspicuous spot, I found a tiny poster for "The Tuner".

It was pieced together with several other short films.

"That's going too far!"

Ding Xiaoxiao pointed angrily at that corner:

"Our poster design is so sophisticated! And the way Teacher Lü looks standing behind you is so intimidating! How could it be posted here? Who's going to see it?!"

Be content.

Li Yan walked over and looked at the other short films on the poster, but none of them looked familiar.

"We're not in the main competition, and it's just a short film. We're lucky if we get any screen time."

"You can't just bully people like that..."

"You can't possibly compare Julianne Moore to you."

The biggest name in this main competition is probably Aunt Moore.

She is the female lead in the film "A Single Man," published by Weinstein and directed by Tom Ford.

Just as Li Yan finished comforting Ding Xiaoxiao, Zhang Qiang came over again, looking expectant, and asked:

"Junior brother, when are we walking the red carpet? I specially ordered a suit, and this girl brought several dresses too. We need to find somewhere to show them off, right?"

Seeing his senior brother and Nazha's eager expressions, Li Yan couldn't bear to dampen their spirits.

"Senior, tonight's the opening ceremony red carpet!"

"Yeah, aren't we going?"

"That's for the jury, the opening film crew, and those big names who were invited."

Li Yan pointed to the guest passes hanging around their necks:

"For a short film crew like ours to actually walk the red carpet, we have to wait until the Horizons screening or an awards ceremony."

"Oh? I see..."

Zhang Qiang had been looking forward to walking the red carpet ever since he found out he was shortlisted, not for any other reason than to take pictures and show them off in his office!

I could even go and show off to the proprietress of "The Bookworm"...

"However..."

Li Yan patted Zhang Qiang on the shoulder and chuckled:

"We can go and freeload!"

rub?!"

Ding Xiaoxiao waved her hands repeatedly, her face full of reluctance:

"How embarrassing! What if we get kicked off by security? We're a legitimate film and television company, after all. It'll be so shameful if word gets out!"

"Who told you to go inside? We're just here to soak up some of the buzz, we're not going in."

Li Yan took out his phone from his pocket and waved it:

"Didn't I ask you to verify our Weibo accounts before we left?"

Ding Xiaoxiao nodded.

Li Yan chuckled happily:

"From now on, we need to get to work!"

"Your task and your senior's task are to be photographers, shooting the beach, the scenery, the foreigners, what we eat and drink, and whatever fun we join in. The main focus is on a vlog; whatever the netizens want to see, we'll shoot for them!"

"We need to generate buzz for the 'Venice Squad' on the Chinese internet first!"

……

After the division of labor was clear, Ding Xiaoxiao dragged Zhang Qiang to various places to "bump into" celebrities and shoot footage.

Li Yan originally planned to go back to the hotel to adjust to the time difference, but seeing Nazha's bewildered look, he was really worried about letting her run around alone.

Left with no other choice, I took Naza for a stroll through the streets of Lido Island.

Naza wore a refreshing white slip dress today, which complemented her face.

Even on the streets of Venice, they are a sight to behold.

The scenery is a bit timid right now.

"Director... I want to eat that ice cream, but I'm too scared to buy it..."

Naza grabbed Li Yan's arm, pointed to a gelato shop not far away, and said pitifully:

"My English isn't good, and besides, what if they speak Italian to me and I don't understand..."

Li Yan shook his head helplessly. This girl, aside from being pretty, was really...

"Just pick the color you want, and gesture with your finger to show them. It's okay, they'll understand..."

Naza playfully shook his arm and raised her voice:

"I don't... What if I misgest? That would be so embarrassing! Could you buy it for me, please? Director, please~"

"Stop! Don't yell, you're giving me goosebumps."

Li Yan sighed: "You really need to practice your English when you get back, otherwise what will you do in the future? Do you want to carry that 'poor ha' joke with you for the rest of your life?"

"What 'poor ha'?" Naza looked bewildered.

"It's nothing, I was just saying you're cute."