Chapter 483: Wei Ming has become the third party

Following the instructions of the veteran director of the Shanghai Er Yingchang and chairman of the Golden Rooster Jury, Mr. Yuan Wenshu, Wei Ming carried the Palme d'Or trophy onto the stage the entire way, making it convenient for everyone to take a look.

It was just that he, the person involved, felt inexplicably ashamed. If it weren't for the fact that this trophy still had to be handed over to the Children's Er Yingchang for safekeeping—and it was quite expensive—Wei Ming felt that smashing the trophy on stage would have been more in line with the theme of his speech.

"Hello everyone, I am the new director, Wei Ming."

Applause.

"At the invitation of Director Yu Lan of the Children's Er Yingchang, who hoped to film a movie that Chinese children would love to see, the film adaptation of *Spring in the Sheep-Herding Class* came to be."

"I deeply miss the time when I was a child watching *Little Soldier Zhang Ga* and *The Letter with Feather* under an open-air screen, so I especially hope to let today's children see something good. This was also my original intention for engaging in children's literature creation. I am very happy that last year we had *The Legend of Sealed Book*, and excellent children's films like *Spring Water Ding-Dong* and *Sai Hu*, and that the Children's Er Yingchang was established. I hope *Sheep-Herding Class* can also be liked by the little ones."

"Old Yuan asked me to talk about the gains from this trip to Cannes. First is the Caméra d'Or awarded to me personally by the Cannes Film Festival, which is a reward for a new director making their first film."

"Then there is the Best Artistic Contribution Award, which is said to be a reward for the wonderful soundtrack in this film. I also had the honor of participating in the soundtrack work."

"There is also the FIPRESCI Prize awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics, which represents the recognition of this film by the film critic community."

"Finally, there is this: the Palme d'Or. Only one is awarded each year, though occasionally there are two. In 1980, Akira Kurosawa's *Kagemusha* shared this honor with the American film *All That Jazz*."

"This award has no prize money, but the trophy is made of gold and crystal and is also very valuable. Furthermore, it is easier to sell copyright after winning, which is conducive to widespread dissemination."

"Now, *Spring in the Sheep-Herding Class* has already sold its copyright across the five continents of the world, all bought by major companies. It will soon be screened in the United States, France, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In order to recoup the expensive film purchase costs, they will also promote it diligently. This may be the Chinese film screened in the most countries, aside from Bruce Lee's films in Hong Kong."

Wei Ming paused, and applause rang out once again.

What he said was the truth, but it sounded like showing off. However, it only made people envious and worshipful, leaving them with no temper at all.

It has been so many years since the Reform and Opening-up, but the overseas achievements of the several major film studios combined are not as good as that of *Sheep-Herding Class* alone.

"The achievements *Sheep-Herding Class* has made abroad are certainly very eye-catching, but I also have a worry, which is that major film studios will start to explore the preferences of foreign film festivals and then specifically film the types they like, while ignoring the preferences of our own domestic audience. I hope *Sheep-Herding Class* is not setting a bad precedent."

"The love of foreign judges is certainly worth being happy about, but being able to satisfy the audience of our own country is what is most worth being proud of for us film workers."

"And what kind of film can satisfy the audience? It is martial arts films with visual spectacles like *The Shaolin Temple*, family films close to the lives of the vast number of farmers like *Happy Reunion*, and emotional films that convey the most simple maternal love like *Mom, Love Me Once Again*. I am more willing to see more of these kinds of films."

"Next, *Spring in the Sheep-Herding Class* will also be officially screened domestically. I hope it is also a film that the vast masses of the people will love to see. Thank you all, my speech ends here."

Applause rose again from the audience. Some agreed, but others were unimpressed. Oh, you won an award and achieved success, so you won't let others strive to win awards? On what grounds!

Yuan Wenshu, sitting in the front row, whispered a few words to Lin Shan, the editor-in-chief of *Popular Cinema*, meaning that the full text of Wei Ming's speech could be published in *Popular Cinema* in the next issue; these were very insightful words.

Actually, Wei Ming had many more things he wanted to say, such as the reform of the film studio system and the innovation of film technology. However, judging from the tone he probed from Old Bao, there was no possibility of major moves within a few years at least, so he might as well put some effort into Hong Kong and see if the co-production model could yield some results.

The awards ceremony continued; it was time for the Golden Rooster Awards.

The number of Golden Rooster Award categories was very large, which meant that more front-of-house and behind-the-scenes staff could receive honors; even being nominated was a form of recognition.

But the jury was a bit too individualistic; many awards only mentioned one or two films.

Some were even vacant at the nomination stage, such as the Best Actor award.

Wei Ming wanted to curse. How could Yan Shunkai of *The True Story of Ah Q* not be worth a nomination?

Was the veteran Yu Shizhi in *Teahouse* not worth a nomination?

And there was Zhang Fengyi, who was a newcomer and afraid of Huniu; *Rickshaw Boy* gave him an extremely high starting point in film.

Wei Ming was even worried, thinking that in this situation, giving a "double yolk egg" (co-winners) would be acceptable, but the Golden Rooster Awards didn't even give a nomination.

Moreover, even if some awards had nominations, they would still be vacant during the ceremony.

For example, the Best Costume Design award; both *Rickshaw in the Rain* and *Rickshaw Boy* were nominated, and the costume designs of the two Republican-era films were indeed commendable, but in the end, it was given to no one.

There was also Best Screenplay; only Chen Rong of *At Middle Age* was nominated, and she herself had come to the scene.

When Chen Rong saw that only she was nominated, she thought this was a sure win, but in the end, she came for nothing. This kind of thing was too discouraging to people's enthusiasm.

I don't know what their standards were. Wasn't it supposed to be the best one of the past year?

There must be one for this kind of thing, right?

After a few minor awards that left people speechless, they began to present the most significant ones. First, there was no need to mention the vacancy for Best Actor.

Three years of Golden Rooster, and Xizi remained the only Golden Rooster Best Actor.

Then came the most anticipated battle for Best Actress. The only nominees were Siqin Gaowa for *Rickshaw Boy* and Zhu Lin for *At Middle Age*.

In the previous life, Siqin Gaowa and Pan Hong tied, which led to the first "double yolk egg" Best Actress of the Golden Rooster Awards.

However, in this life, Sister Lin's talent and seasoning were still a bit lacking. In the end, the award went to Siqin Gaowa, and Sister Lin's wish to collect both the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Best Actress awards within a year fell through.

This setback also made her put more effort into the next film, *Human, Ghost, Love*. Next time, she must win back the ground.

However, Wei Ming suddenly thought of a question. He'd better ask Old Yuan later.

The awards continued. Best Director went to Wu Yigong for *Rickshaw in the Rain*. He was also a representative of the Fourth Generation directors and the future director of the Shanghai Er Yingchang.

The famous line "Are you here to take a shit?" came from this film, and the original author of this film was now a Taiwanese.

*Rickshaw in the Rain*, *At Middle Age*, and *Rickshaw Boy* were all nominated for Best Feature Film. In the end, the other two films besides *Rickshaw in the Rain* won.

This was also very embarrassing. Even if a few more films had been nominated, it wouldn't have made *Rickshaw in the Rain* look so awkward.

The 6th Hundred Flowers Awards and the 3rd Golden Rooster Awards ended here. Wei Ming hurriedly asked Yuan Wenshu a question.

"May I ask Old Yuan, *Spring in the Sheep-Herding Class* is a co-production between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Will this affect its eligibility for the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards?"

Because in his impression, whether it was Siqin Gaowa in *Homecoming* or Liu Xiaoqing in *The Burning of the Imperial Palace*, they had never been nominated for domestic film awards based on co-productions.

Including *The Shaolin Temple* and *Heroes of Shaolin*, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers directly ignored them.

This question made Yuan Wenshu pause for a moment. He hadn't really considered this issue before; when judging, for the sake of harmony, they had directly ignored these works that might cause controversy.

But now there was a problem: *Spring in the Sheep-Herding Class* was a Mainland-Hong Kong co-production, but except for the funding, this film was 100% Mainland-made. If the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers directly ignored this film next year, I'm afraid neither the superiors nor the ordinary audience would agree.

Yuan Wenshu said, "I don't think this should be a problem. We will issue a specific set of regulations to explain it later."

Hearing this, Wei Ming nodded. Then he could safely invest in *Human, Ghost, God*, otherwise, it might actually cause Sister Lin to miss out on awards.

So he found Director Xu Sangchu of the Shanghai Er Yingchang again. Xu Sangchu wanted to agree directly; he was a person very keen on market-oriented reform and happy to accept new things. *Luo Shan Lian*, *Happy Reunion*, and *Case 405*, which had the highest box office in the early 1980s, were all led and launched by him.

But he was also an old director about to step down, so he still had to go back and discuss it with his colleagues.

Next, there were some activities arranged locally. Wei Ming also treated Sister Chen Rong to the best Min cuisine in Fuzhou, which made her feel a little better.

She also shared the recent situation of her son, Liang Zuo, with Wei Ming.

"Xiao Zuo is dating now, and I guess he can get married next year. But he feels that working at the Education Bureau is meaningless and is thinking about transferring jobs."

"Is he still writing novels?"

"He wrote some short stories, but he wasn't satisfied with most of them and put them in the drawer."

"Liang Zuo has a quick mind, but his writing style is relatively down-to-earth and very humorous. Actually, he could try writing TV scripts or crosstalk scripts," Wei Ming said.

Because Liang Zuo achieved huge success in these two trades, Wei Ming suggested developing in this direction. If he could enter the industry a few years earlier, perhaps he could leave behind more excellent works, but what Wei Ming hoped for more was that he could live a few more years.

Chen Rong took it to heart. Her husband, Old Fan, was thinking about letting his son teach at a university, but Chen Rong knew that her son still preferred creation. And with the connections of the two of them, it wouldn't be difficult to introduce some crosstalk actors and TV directors to their son.

After staying in Fuzhou for another day, Wei Ming, Zhu Lin, and Gong Xue secretly left the team and couldn't wait to take a plane back to Jingcheng.

Returning to their home in Nanluoguxiang after two months, Zhu Lin showed Gong Xue the alarm device on the door between the front courtyard and the inner courtyard.

"You stay outside, I'll go in first," Zhu Lin said after entering and locking the door from the inside. "Okay, you can try knocking on the door."

Gong Xue knocked: "There's no reaction."

Zhu Lin: "Too light. You have to imagine yourself as a thug or a robber."

Gong Xue increased her force, and then she heard the "woo-woo" sound of police sirens, and even the outer courtyard lit up with colorful lights, which scared her to death.

Seeing that the effect was achieved, Zhu Lin hurriedly turned it off and opened the door.

"Awesome, right!" she said proudly. "These were all made by Peking University students. Beichizi also installed a set."

Gong Xue carefully entered the inner courtyard, not even daring to touch that door.

"Don't worry, the defense can only be activated after it's locked from the inside. It's fine to touch it normally. Also, remember to change the battery regularly." Zhu Lin taught her how to operate it specifically; it was quite simple.

"Truly amazing," Gong Xue praised.

Zhu Lin touched the water in the swimming pool: "Haha, the temperature is just right. Do you want to swim!"

Gong Xue: "Are you sure you don't want to go home first? I think your uncle and aunt must be waiting anxiously."

"Oh, I almost forgot. My mom also bought several copies of *Popular Cinema* this time to support me, but she voted for *At Middle Age*, so it was a wasted vote," Zhu Lin laughed. "Then I'll come over again in the evening. Remember to lock the door well. I can ring the doorbell."

Gong Xue: "Hmm, Xiao Wei should be back by then too."

They could form a trio again, one king and two queens. This time, it was truly two Best Actresses.