Chapter 56: Venice Strategy

Since the decision was made to go all out, the film must pass censorship as soon as possible and be sent to Venice early.

To aim for the Golden Lion, you must at least let the Venice insiders see your film early, so that those who can be swayed know the quality of your film and can thus support you with confidence.

Otherwise, if they don't even know what the film is like, how can they support you? What if it’s a piece of trash?

At the very least, your film’s quality must be passable.

Hou Ke was full of energy this time; every day he was either at the Administration or on his way to the Administration, his phone ringing non-stop.

Fortunately, the film was set in Xiangjiang and featured Xiangjiang actors, so the censorship committee couldn't find any faults.

After Hou Ke’s stakeouts and urging, the film passed censorship and received its screening permit in just over ten days.

Now, whether for screening or participating in film festivals, the film was fully compliant and legal.

This time, it was still submitted under the name of the Youth Film Studio. As soon as they got the "identity," Cao Yang and Old Tian set off for Italy without a moment's delay, personally carrying the film reels.

Accompanying them were Cheng Jianye, an assistant, and an interpreter.

It was only the end of June; there were still two months until the opening of the Venice Film Festival and one month until the announcement of the main competition lineup.

Currently, there were no direct flights from Jingcheng to Venice; one usually took a Russian or European flight and then transferred to Venice.

As for why they didn't take a direct flight to Rome and then transfer to Venice, it was actually quite simple: Rome was already inside Italy, and after landing, one would have to go through security and immigration before transferring, which was quite troublesome.

The key was that transferring through Moscow was cheaper and less of a hassle.

After a bumpy journey, they finally arrived at Venice Marco Polo Airport.

After a series of procedures, they walked out and saw a white-haired foreigner waving directly at them.

Old Tian strode over, looking at the other person with a smile on his face.

The white-haired foreigner also looked at Old Tian with excitement.

Old Tian punched him on the shoulder, and the white-haired foreigner punched Old Tian on the shoulder as well.

Then, the two of them hugged.

A surge of bromance!

"Not bad, Old Ma, you've got skills now, an Artistic Director, the third-in-command at Venice. You didn't say a damn word when I called you—were you afraid I’d try to sponge off you?"

Old Tian joked with a grin; it seemed the two hadn't grown distant despite not seeing each other for a long time.

"Ugh! Don't even mention it. This Artistic Director of mine is worth nothing. I’ve got the Festival President and the Organizing Committee Chairman pressing down on me from above, and a whole bunch of people stuffing their films in through connections from below. I’m just a guy running errands and getting squeezed in the middle.

Wait until I become the Festival President, then I’ll show off to you properly."

The white-haired foreigner, none other than Marco Müller, spoke in very standard Mandarin; just listening to his voice, you wouldn't think he was a foreigner.

"Come, come, let me introduce you."

Old Tian pulled Cao Yang over and introduced him solemnly.

"This is my junior fellow apprentice, Cao Yang, a closing disciple of Master Situ. Just this March, the film he directed, *The Coast at Night Alone*, won the Jury Grand Prix and Best Actress in Berlin."

Then he introduced him to Cao Yang: "This is Müller, you can also call him Old Ma. We’ve known each other for over twenty years; he’s my good brother."

"Hello, Mr. Müller, I am Cao Yang."

"Cao Yang, hello, hello. Young and promising. I watched your *The Coast at Night Alone* at the cinema. It’s excellent, a model for New Wave cinema."

He then asked: "Is Mr. Situ’s health well? I haven't seen him for many years."

"The old man is in great health," Old Tian replied, then introduced Cheng Jianye.

After some pleasantries, Marco Müller said: "You’ve had a hard journey. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the hotel first."

On the way, Marco Müller chatted with Old Tian about work, mostly complaining that since he took charge of film selection, because it was his first time handling everything, he had to do many things himself and was so busy he couldn't catch his breath.

Fortunately, the selection work had come to an end, so he could spare some time.

Cao Yang was still marveling at how diligent and active Old Ma was in his work when he heard Old Tian scoff.

"Look at you, acting all capable, doing everything yourself. Then what are all those other selectors for? You just became Artistic Director and want to show off in front of me; I know you too well."

Marco Müller burst into laughter. A very interesting little foreign old man.

Well, actually, he wasn't that old, not even fifty yet, it’s just that Europeans and Americans generally look overly mature after forty.

They look old.

Once they reached the hotel and everything was settled, Old Tian found Cao Yang and said he was going to find Old Ma to ask what the situation was this year and if any films had been pre-selected.

After Old Tian left, Cao Yang took a nap.

When he woke up, he felt a bit dazed, then remembered he had arrived in Venice, and had even come early to conquer the Golden Lion—it all felt like a dream.

So he summoned the trash system.

Host: Cao Yang

Current Reputation: 546735

Available Reputation: 146735

Immersion Experience: +0

Film in Production: *3-Iron*

Lead Actor: Liu Ye

Lead Actress: Yu Feihong

!

Another 130,000+ in reputation. Could it be because of the overseas release? I don't know if it's based on box office or influence. It’s such trash, it doesn't even have an explanation.

Bad review!

He had a meal with Cheng Jianye and the others—authentic Italian food.

To put it nicely, these dishes all preserved the original taste of the food itself.

What? You’re asking about seasoning? Ha, do you understand healthy eating? There’s salt and olive oil, help yourself.

After eating, they didn't wander around much and returned to the hotel, mainly because they had been told upon arrival to try not to wander around at night and it was best to stay in the hotel.

Back in the hotel room, Cao Yang saw Old Tian was already waiting for him.

"Did you go eat?"

"Mostly because everyone wanted to try Italian cuisine, so we went to eat authentic Italian food."

"Authentic? Old Ma invited me to a Chinese restaurant that claimed to be the most authentic in Venice. Pfft, it was neither Chinese nor Western, it tasted awful," Old Tian complained.

"Italian food..."

Cao Yang tried hard to think of a similar dish. After thinking for a long time, he said: "For example, if you want to eat cucumber salad, you just cut the cucumber into pieces, and, well, that dish is done."

"Hmm?"

"If you think it doesn't taste good, you can dip it in some salt."

"Then you really did eat authentic Italian food. Forget it, I’d rather eat that neither-Chinese-nor-Western stuff."

Both of them tried to keep the conversation light.

Finally, Cao Yang couldn't help but ask: "Not optimistic?"

Old Tian nodded.

"Old Ma said that Festival President Alberto Barbera is stepping down next April. This is the last festival he’s participating in as president, so he probably won't let the Golden Lion slip away easily."

Cao Yang fell silent. This was truly frustrating. They had come this far, was it still not enough?

"Is there no other way?"

"Old Ma has already discussed it with the people from Sony Pictures Classics, letting a few members of the organizing committee try to win over the Chairman of the Organizing Committee to see if they can reach a consensus, and then unite with the Jury President... In short, we’ll try our best."

Old Tian sighed, "But don't get your hopes up too high. Keep a calm mind. Old Ma will push our film internally recently to test Barbera’s reaction first."

Thanks to "Book Friend 20220412013259797", "Banbanzhi", and "Jinsheng Bu Hui Zai Ai" for their tips, and thanks to my brothers for their monthly tickets and recommendations. Thank you, truly.

Some brothers asked about the update schedule, so I’ll post it again: tentatively two updates a day, one around 8:00 AM and one around 12:00 PM.

Thanks again to my brothers for your support and love, thank you.

(End of chapter)