Chapter 397: Dieter's Promise

During this period, many directors and actors in Xiangjiang looked down upon directors and actors from the mainland.

In their inherent view, films shot by mainland directors were generally "crude" and simply couldn't handle commercial cinema—if a film couldn't make money, what was the use of winning awards?

It wasn't until the sudden emergence of *Hero* by Zhang Yimou that some Xiangjiang filmmakers had a slight change of perspective.

Later, as Feng Xiaogang, Chen Kaige, and others exerted their strength in large-scale commercial productions.

Although the content of their films received mixed reviews, regardless of whether Xiangjiang filmmakers still held onto their inherent perceptions, they had to admit one fact: a small number of mainland directors were indeed capable of controlling large-scale scenes.

The sudden rise of Cao Yang did not just break the inherent perceptions of Xiangjiang filmmakers; it caused many of them to have a mental breakdown.

Some of them hadn't reacted yet: how did a mainland art-house director, who was good at filming female-themed subjects from alternative angles, suddenly become one of the most influential directors in Hollywood?

How could he suddenly influence the whole world?

Some people couldn't figure it out, so they simply stopped thinking about it or paying attention; they only planned to muddle through life in their own little corner of Xiangjiang, and whatever international big-name director he was, it was all too far away.

Those filmmakers who planned to head north or had already headed north might not have intended to pay much attention, but they were repeatedly cautioned and warned about certain matters by their agents and investors.

Only then did they discover that in this mainland they thought they could "walk through" and "alleviate poverty" in, some rules had to be followed, and these rules, it was said—only passed on privately—were initiated and established by that young director.

There was another situation.

That was that Xiangjiang directors who wanted to achieve something in art-house films knew of Cao Yang's influence even earlier, because wanting to win awards at the three major European film festivals and gaining acceptance from one of them was truly too difficult.

Du Qifeng felt this deeply.

In 2006 and 2007, the films he directed for two consecutive years were shortlisted for the main competition section of the Venice Film Festival, but what stung was that he didn't even receive a consolation prize.

He didn't want to hang himself from a single tree, so this year, he decisively shifted his target, wanting to try the Berlin Film Festival; it was said that the Berlin Film Festival was also very friendly to Chinese people.

Of course, for the Xiangjiang media, Du Qifeng, who had been shortlisted for the main competition section of the three major European film festivals for three consecutive years, was only one award away from being "canonized."

This was not only due to his three consecutive years of being shortlisted for the main competition section of the three major European film festivals, but also because he had already won Best Director at the Golden Horse Awards twice and Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards three times.

For Du Qifeng, the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards no longer held any novelty or challenge; only the three major European film festivals were his new goals and pursuits.

As for the Oscars, admittedly, for Xiangjiang filmmakers, the Oscars had much greater fame than the three major European film festivals, but Du Qifeng couldn't even get into Hollywood, so thinking about the Oscars was too unrealistic.

To him, the three major European film festivals were the most practical.

He also decided that if the Venice Film Festival didn't work out, he would try the Berlin Film Festival, and if the Berlin Film Festival didn't work out... wasn't there still Cannes?

He just didn't believe it; what a mainland director could do, he couldn't do?

After the films selected for the main competition section of this Berlin Film Festival were announced, Du Qifeng saw that Cao Yang was among them, which gave him some ideas.

Having had the experience of being selected for the Venice main competition twice, he already knew Cao Yang's status in the European art-house circle.

Could he ask Cao Yang for help?

This was a question that had been bothering Du Qifeng for some time.

To be honest.

Even though Cao Yang was currently a world-class director and held a pivotal position in the European art-house circle, as an "old senior" and a highly decorated Xiangjiang director, Du Qifeng really found it hard to open his mouth.

Besides, he was also thinking: one, there was no conflict of interest, and two, they weren't close, so why would the other party help him?

This was also the reason for his inner struggle.

If Cao Yang invited everyone to get together, Du Qifeng would certainly be very happy.

This was a good opportunity to close the distance; if they could naturally become friends in the future, or have the opportunity to create some connections in terms of interests, then there would be a chance.

As for the common Xiangjiang practice of "sending women" for public relations, for directors of Du Qifeng and Cao Yang's status, that was a bit ridiculous.

The targets of "sending women" for public relations were mostly wealthy people or public officials in Xiangjiang; not to mention a director of Du Qifeng's caliber, even small directors who had just debuted were not short of women.

To put it bluntly, for a director of Du Qifeng's status, those young, beautiful, pure, or sexy actresses were all proactive in ways ordinary people couldn't imagine.

Let alone Cao Yang, who had greater influence and a higher status.

The so-called "unspoken rules," for directors with a bit of fame, were all jokes—with so many proactive actresses of all kinds or people wanting to be actors, how much would they have to like the other person to leave behind evidence and proactively "submit to the unspoken rules"?

Therefore, when Du Qifeng met Cao Yang, he was quite polite, using both hands when shaking hands, and said: "Director Cao, I have admired you for a long time, and today I finally have the opportunity to get together."

Actually, Du Qifeng's words were a bit too polite; it wasn't the first time Cao Yang and Du Qifeng had met.

The year before last, when Cao Yang was invited by the Venice Film Festival chairman Marco Müller to be a guest at the opening ceremony, give a speech, and serve as a presenter for the Lifetime Achievement Award, he had encountered Du Qifeng.

At that time, Du Qifeng was still a bit arrogant; the film he directed, *Exiled*, was shortlisted for the Venice main competition, and he was in high spirits. He had crossed paths with Cao Yang but didn't chat much.

Last year, the film *Mad Detective* directed by Du Qifeng was again shortlisted for the Venice main competition, and Cao Yang, as the producer and screenwriter of *Pieta*, also came to Venice.

It was just that he arrived a bit late, coming on the fifth day after the film festival opened. This time, Cao Yang and Du Qifeng also crossed paths, and this time Du Qifeng chatted with Cao Yang enthusiastically for a few more sentences.

But today, Du Qifeng was particularly polite, and unlike last year, he didn't have that slight air of posturing; today, his posture was very low.

Whether it was genuine politeness or feigned politeness was very easy to feel.

For example, Wang Xiaoshuai could feel that although Du Qifeng was superficially polite to him, it was completely different from the politeness he showed Cao Yang.

Regarding this, Wang Xiaoshuai didn't care much.

The two weren't in the same circle anyway; you look down on me, and I look down on you too.

Don't think that because Du Qifeng was famous in the Chinese circle, one could take it for granted that Wang Xiaoshuai couldn't compare to him.

During this period, mainland art-house directors, especially those like Wang Xiaoshuai who could win awards at the three major European film festivals, might be low-key in the country, and domestic box office returns weren't very high.

But the films they shot earned Euros and US dollars.

The copyright fees sold, added together, were still quite considerable, and the key was that these fees didn't need to be shared with theater chains, and the country had tax exemption policies, so they were almost all pure profit.

In addition, in the European art-house circle, the fame and recognition of Wang Xiaoshuai's group were much higher than Du Qifeng's.

This was the difference between having won awards at the three major European film festivals and not having won any.