Chapter 591: From Guest to Host

The entire industry was quite annoyed by Lu Shan's recent behavior.

It wasn't anything else; Lu Yan He was always willing to stand on stage and show support for other films, and he never hesitated to recommend other movies on his social media platforms. He had helped promote countless films.

One must know that with Lu Yan He's current influence, thanks to his recommendations, many low-budget films that lacked sufficient promotional funds were able to avoid being released without a sound.

After an incident like this, would Lu Yan He still be willing to recommend other films?

A film is, by nature, a content-based product; some people like it, some don't—that is the most normal thing in the world.

This also meant that no matter what film Lu Yan He recommended, he would be criticized and questioned.

Would Lu Yan He, for the sake of playing it safe, stop making recommendations altogether in the future?

Lu Shan was being denounced and ostracized by many in the industry. Not to mention, Lu Shan was also one of the investors in *Human Joy*; his motives were suspect, and his character was held in contempt.

Lu Yan He hadn't expected to receive so many phone calls, all of them beating around the bush to ask if he would still be willing to recommend other films in the future.

To be honest, Lu Yan He had already been seriously thinking about this matter, considering how he should act in the future.

After all, say less, err less; do nothing, do no wrong.

But was it necessary to go to such lengths just to "not make mistakes"?

Lu Yan He knew that many people made these calls out of concern for their own future films.

Yet, Lu Yan He loved this industry and sincerely hoped it would flourish. He was unwilling to let the controversy triggered by a single recommendation affect his future actions.

The Friday after the May Day holiday usually didn't see any blockbuster films released.

This was because the market potential of the May Day films hadn't been fully exhausted; it was difficult for new films to secure screenings or attract audiences to the cinema to the maximum extent.

At such times, it was often low-budget films with insufficient box office projections that would enter the theaters during this window, scraping together a million or so in box office revenue, just to make it easier for them to sell higher copyright fees through other channels under the guise of being a "theatrical film."

And this Friday, an art-house film called *Pacing Horse* was released.

Lu Yan He appeared once again at an advance screening and shared his thoughts on the film.

"I'm very nervous, very afraid that this will cause controversy again. However, I still love film. It doesn't matter if you no longer trust me, but this is a good film. It is especially like the stories I read in children's literature magazines when I was young—authentic, warm, and filled with childhood innocence," Lu Yan He said. "I really like the young actors in this film. I don't know where the director found them, but they are very cute and very moving in the movie. For audiences who want to feel the stories from those children's literature magazines of their youth, this film is well worth walking into a cinema for."

"I will continue to recommend films. I know that in the future, there will definitely be times when my recommendations cause controversy, but I have thought about it for a long time, and I am unwilling to stop expressing my opinions just because it might cause controversy," Lu Yan He said. "I must also accept the fact that even if I like something, others might not, and things I care about, others might not. Thank you."

A great many people at the venue began to applaud.

On that Friday, the daily box office for *Pacing Horse* actually broke 2.4 million, and with the advance screenings included, the total box office exceeded 3 million, turning heads in the industry.

For a low-budget film, such box office results were, of course, enough for them to celebrate.

"I didn't expect you to recover in such a short time. I thought you would need a while to get your energy back."

On the way to Hezhou, Chen Siqi teased him with a smile while traveling with Lu Yan He.

"I didn't want to continue the internal friction. At first, I was a bit confused and couldn't grasp the scale of it, but later I thought about it—forget it, I can't be bothered to dwell on it. I didn't lie, nor did I deliberately praise something bad as good. Can I always say whatever I want? I can't do that, and internal friction is meaningless."

"That's good." Chen Siqi nodded. "I was really afraid that because of this, you wouldn't dare to say what you wanted to say in the future."

"Why? Am I that fragile?"

"Because this time, it was purely an unprovoked disaster for you." Chen Siqi laughed. "If it were your own film, that would be one thing, but this time you were dragged into a public opinion controversy because of someone else's film."

"Brother Qiao is quite guilty."

"Anyone would feel guilty—inviting a friend to help out, only to bring so much trouble upon them."

Lu Yan He: "I have a feeling he won't be asking me to help him stand on stage anymore."

Chen Siqi: "That won't happen. In the short term, everyone needs time to digest the negative emotions brought about by this incident; once time passes, it will be fine."

This time, heading to Hezhou, Lu Yan He had originally thought he would feel excited and nervous days in advance. However, perhaps because of the Lu Shan incident, his attention was entirely absorbed by it. It wasn't until he arrived at the airport, ready to fly to Hezhou, that he slowly entered the film festival state of mind.

"Is there a chance for *Love Letter* to win an award this time?" Chen Siqi asked curiously.

She really wanted to know.

Because Lu Yan He was quite knowledgeable about the major film festivals, every analysis he made regarding whether a film could win an award was combined with the festival's judging tastes in recent years and the specific characteristics of the film itself.

Every time Chen Siqi listened to Lu Yan He talk about these things, she updated her understanding of the film industry.

The film industry is not static; it is changing all the time.

Lu Yan He thought for a moment and said, "Half of the films shortlisted for the main competition at this Hezhou Film Festival are by new directors; what the situation is with their films is still not very clear. I can only analyze *Love Letter* based on its own situation. Its depth and artistry are a bit shallow—that is an objective fact. The film itself wasn't made with that direction in mind. There is basically no competitiveness for acting awards either. In terms of performance space and screen time, only Sister Bige has a hope of competing for an award, but that is merely a hope. This isn't one of her best performances; these two roles in the film didn't offer her much difficult performance space. Moreover, she just won a Best Actress award for *Rouge* recently, so people won't be casting their votes for her again in such a short time."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"So, according to what you said, *Love Letter* might actually not win an award?"

Lu Yan He nodded.

"It might win, it might not; that depends on the specific situation. For *Love Letter*, I am pinning more hope on media reviews and audience word-of-mouth." He said, "I think the biggest advantage of *Love Letter* is that it is, in itself, a good film."

"If everyone thinks it's a good film, why wouldn't they give it an award?"

"Liking a work is one thing, giving an award to a work is another." Lu Yan He said. "Actually, it's the same for us. We might really like a work, but we all think it's because it resonated with our own experiences. But when we have to choose where an award goes, we inevitably consider one thing: is it good enough? Is it worthy of this award? Compared to what we like, sometimes we will choose something more 'correct'."

Chen Siqi suddenly understood.

She understood what Lu Yan He meant.

It was just like the submissions for *Jump Up* magazine. In fact, the editorial team really likes some works, but everyone clearly knows that if you really want to talk about literary quality and seriousness, another work is deeper. When they need to recommend works to apply for literary awards, they will also abandon what they truly like and recommend those novels that they might not like as much, but which have more literary merit.

The setting of awards itself means that it doesn't operate according to personal preference. It's just that many times, personal preference influences value judgment.

Chen Siqi: "I wonder how Liu Bige's *Fake Death Won't Do* is; I haven't even seen that film yet."

"I'm looking forward to it too. Actually, Liu Bige is the type of director I really like." Lu Yan He said. "He won't use the obvious boundaries between commercial films and art films to constrain his creation, but instead treats any subject matter or genre and processes it into his own style."

Lu Yan He felt that Liu Bige was like directors such as Tarantino, Wong Kar-wai, and Park Chan-wook—their personal style always far outweighs the subject matter and genre. The story, the characters, the genre—they are all just clay in their hands. The works they mold are always themselves.

Lu Yan He had felt this point when he was filming *Late Spring* with Liu Bige.

If you were to say he is a director who doesn't care about story rhythm or entertainment, that would be nonsense. The essence of the story of *Late Spring* is a melodramatic story of youthful cruelty. But would you say he filmed a melodramatic youth film? No one who has seen this movie would think so. In his films, the focus is not on the melodrama, but on the anxiety, unease, struggle, and the most subtle emotions of each person within that melodramatic story.

This made *Late Spring* a film completely different from other youth-themed movies.

Therefore, although *Fake Death Won't Do* looks like a very commercial romantic comedy at first glance, it is definitely not that kind of formulaic, stereotypical romantic comedy.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been shortlisted for the main competition at the Hezhou Film Festival.

This is just like how Johnnie To's films were regulars at the three major European film festivals before—

He filmed purely commercial movies, but he signed his own name on every commercial movie he made; his personal style was pushed to the extreme, and that is also a form of expression.

Arriving in Hezhou again, as soon as Lu Yan He got off the plane, he was welcomed by numerous media and fans waiting at the airport.

Chen Siqi deliberately kept her distance from him.

In front of the cameras, they were never ones to "show off their affection."

Because there were so many people at the scene, Lu Yan He was delayed for quite a while and got into the car fifteen minutes later than expected.

Coming to the Hezhou Film Festival this time, his work tasks for the first week were heavy, and his time was tight. Like today, he had to rush to the hotel to prepare, and in the evening, he and Chen Siqi would have dinner with the editor-in-chief of *Hezhou Film* magazine.

Moreover, because several Chinese-language films were shortlisted for the Hezhou Film Festival, there were many Chinese media outlets in Hezhou this time.

Naturally, they all hoped to book Lu Yan He. If not a single Chinese media outlet could book Lu Yan He or get an interview or filming opportunity, they wouldn't even be able to hold their heads up among their peers. This also resulted in Lu Yan He having to cooperate with various media to do some related promotion.

In fact, many big-name stars nowadays don't really accept interviews during film festivals.

Firstly, their schedules are very tight, and secondly, because everyone feels more and more that the atmosphere of film festivals has changed greatly.

In the past, film festivals were really places where everyone could sit down and talk about film; now, they have become a star show, a promotional channel with huge exposure.

The bigger the star, the more they need to protect their actor image. When the environment isn't good enough, they would naturally rather choose not to accept interviews than be asked unprofessional questions.

Reporters who would ask questions like "How do you maintain your current figure?" at a professional film festival are no longer just an isolated phenomenon.

When Wang Biao was arranging interview work for Lu Yan He, he had to conduct background checks on the interviewers—

Seeing how they usually interviewed other actors.

The workload was huge, but if they didn't do this, they couldn't control the quality of the interview scene.

Fortunately, Wang Biao had the help of the *Jump Up* film edition team. They knew very clearly which media and which reporters were professional and had real substance.

In Wang Biao's hands, there was actually a list. On the list were the names of media and media professionals who could be trusted in their work.

This list was updated in real-time by everyone.

Behind it was a massive database serving as supporting material.

When Lu Yan He learned that Wang Biao had this list, he joked: "Usually, it's the major media outlets giving us artists scores; in the future, I'll gather a group of artists to give you media and media professionals scores."

Chen Siqi said at the time: "Maybe we can do one every year at the end of the year."

Later, Chen Siqi dragged Xin Zixing off to ponder it, and who knows how they are getting on with it.

"It is said that the overall quality of the films in the main competition this time is quite high."

In the evening, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi had dinner with Evan Galdy, the executive editor of *Hezhou Film*, and Evan revealed a bit about the situation this year.

"Especially the Vietnamese director Song Muqing's *The Long Rainy Season*, American director Lubian Murray's *Paradise*, and British director Reynaldo Marcus's *Bob Cole*. These three films received high praise during their internal advance screenings," Evan said. "Of course, your *Love Letter* also received high praise. Wu Yang said this is the best film about unrequited love in the last ten years."

Wu Yang is the artistic director of the Hezhou Film Festival.

Lu Yan He nodded. "The selection of films for the Hezhou Film Festival has always valued whether the film itself is good. I actually love watching movies at the Hezhou Film Festival. This time, I'm finally not filming on set, so I can watch a few movies in my spare time. It's just a pity that I haven't been able to grab tickets for several of them."

Evan said: "If there's a movie you want to watch, you can tell me, and I'll help you get tickets."

As the executive editor of *Hezhou Film* magazine, he certainly doesn't lack resources in this regard.

"Really? That's great, thank you." Lu Yan He thanked him.

Last time he came to Hezhou, after Lu Yan He met Evan Galdy, the two of them established a connection and occasionally exchanged emails to talk about film.

Evan Galdy himself is a fan of Lu Yan He.

As the executive editor of *Hezhou Film*, Evan Galdy naturally has close ties with people in the film circle.

However, he has always told Lu Yan He that he hopes Lu Yan He can film more substantial movies. Especially after *The Mist* exploded in popularity, he was one of the few people who sent Lu Yan He an email, reminding him that an actor must be wary of becoming a genre-film actor in the eyes of others.

"I'm so glad that after *The Mist* was released, you came back so quickly to meet everyone with another work," Evan Galdy said. "I was very worried before that you would get lost in the success brought by commercial films and want to be a star instead of an actor."

Lu Yan He smiled and said: "Actually, being a star is also my job, it's just that I put the identity of an actor in a more prominent position; being an actor is my priority. But if I weren't a star, I wouldn't have the opportunity to be a director and film a movie like *Love Letter*."

"That's right." Evan Galdy nodded. "However, you act in too few movies, and I didn't expect you to go back to acting in sitcoms."

"There will be some film shooting plans coming up." Lu Yan He said.

"I heard you are going to film Huang Tianlin's movie soon?"

"Yes."

"His movies are not bad." Evan nodded in approval. "Oh, I met with *Paradise* director Lubian Murray yesterday. He told me he just watched *River of Silence* recently, and he was quite impressed by you and wants to get to know you."

Lubian Murray's *Paradise* is not only one of the most watched films in the main competition this time, but he himself is already one of the auteur directors renowned at major film festivals worldwide. His previous works have been regulars at international film festivals, although he hasn't won any major awards so far.

Lu Yan He said: "Then if I have the chance to run into him later, I will take the initiative to get to know him."

"The impact of streaming media on the entire industry is too great now," Evan said. "I didn't expect that even a director like Lubian would watch *River of Silence* on streaming media. This makes me feel pessimistic about the future of cinemas."

Lu Yan He: "The world is changing every moment. If one day cinemas really disappear, none of us can stop it. But before this result comes, we can all strive to prevent it from happening. Indeed, I also prefer watching movies in a cinema; the big screen and surround sound are completely different audiovisual effects compared to watching on a computer. So, let's strive to make some movies that can attract audiences to the cinema."

Evan said: "I like what you said."

He raised his glass.

"Then let us work together, and don't let cinemas disappear in our era."

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi raised their glasses together and clinked them lightly.

The wine glasses emitted a crisp vibration in the night air.

On the day of the opening ceremony, because Chen Bige had not finished her work in China and couldn't make it to the opening ceremony, and Zhang Ruozhi couldn't come because she was preparing for exams, Lu Yan He walked the red carpet with Wan Xin and Li Songfan, two veteran actors who had quite a few scenes in the film.

The *Love Letter* crew itself was highly watched because of Lu Yan He.

Chen Siqi also walked the red carpet with Lu Yan He this time, and the rare scene of them walking the red carpet hand-in-hand was naturally a key focus for major media and cameras.

Ever since *The Mist* exploded in popularity, overseas media hadn't really seen Lu Yan He. Now that Lu Yan He had finally appeared, they certainly had to film this appearance well.

Artistic Director Wu Yang stood at the end of the red carpet, welcoming every guest.

When Lu Yan He and his group walked over, Wu Yang took several steps forward to welcome them specifically.

Lu Yan He had specifically arrived before the opening ceremony and attended it, which was very respectful, and Wu Yang felt very pleased. After all, Lu Yan He could have come a few days later—

Many big-name actors are actually like this, only reserving about three to four days for the film festival, and once their film screening activities are over, they leave.

Just like Chen Bige; she had work in China, so it was impossible for her to come as early as Lu Yan He.

Entering the Film Palace, Lu Yan He found that the number of people he knew had increased.

Whether it was people from film companies or creators of film content.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi were busy greeting and exchanging pleasantries with all sorts of people, chatting more with those they were familiar with, talking about recent situations, and how long they would stay in Hezhou. Some people would organize gatherings or parties and send invitations to Lu Yan He and the others; Lu Yan He would usually ask them to send a formal copy to his email so he could confirm the schedule and time arrangements later.

Coming to the Hezhou Film Festival this time, although *Love Letter* was competing, Lu Yan He's mindset was more like coming to meet a group of old and new friends. Lu Yan He didn't actually manage the specific work coordination; it was Song Jiang and Wan Qingqing who coordinated with the film festival officials in the name of Linghe Films. His mindset was exceptionally relaxed, and he was increasingly enjoying the occasion of getting to know a group of friends in such a setting.

Lu Yan He had previously chatted with Chen Siqi about this change in himself.

Chen Siqi said: "Because when you first went to a film festival, others didn't know you; you were an intruder, and no matter what attitude others had, you had a bit of the restraint and unease of a guest psychologically. Now your situation has changed; everyone knows you and likes you, you can feel at home here, and you have the need to get to know everyone yourself. With the two combined, your mindset has changed."

Hit the nail on the head.

Lu Yan He nodded seriously, indicating his agreement. ===== CHAPTER 592 =====