Chapter 61: Come and Debate Me If You Disagree

Seeing Cao Yang take the stage, the applause that had already died down erupted once again.

"I hereby call upon all sectors of society to pay more attention to women, to safeguard and respect women's rights and dignity, to protect women who suffer from unfair treatment and harm, and to reduce harassment and violent acts directed at women.

I ask my friends in the media to bear witness: I will donate all box office proceeds from the film festival period to women's protection organizations. Thank you all."

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The applause broke out again.

Today is the 5th, and the film festival ends on the 8th. At most, it can only be screened for four days, with about six screenings a day. Even if every screening is sold out, how much money could that really be?

It is a kind gesture that costs little.

After the premiere, Jury President Nanni Moretti and the jurors were all very enthusiastic.

Several female jurors even specifically hugged Cao Yang, encouraging him in front of the cameras to film more female-themed movies and calling on everyone to respect women's rights and dignity.

Cao Yang nodded solemnly in front of the cameras without saying a word.

No matter what one says, it is easy for people to interpret it in different ways later on; it is better not to say anything at all.

As Xun Ge'er was leaving, she said to Cao Yang, "Director Cao, this film is shot so well; we must collaborate if there is an opportunity."

Afterward, she smiled at Yu Feihong and said, "Sister Feihong, you acted truly well, both in the movie and in life."

Yu Feihong felt this remark was a bit awkward, but thinking about it, it must have been a compliment to her acting skills.

So she replied politely, "Not at all, I just performed beyond my usual level because Cao Yang scolded me; I still can't compare to you."

Pretending, still pretending, heh, pfft!

When Chen Guo was leaving, he specifically walked up to Liu Ye to praise his acting and said he wanted to collaborate with him if there was a chance.

Marco Müller came over, specifically patted Cao Yang on the shoulder, and said, "You did very well today. I will have more media outlets report on today's events."

"I'm troubling you, Mr. Müller."

"Don't be so formal with me. Just like Old Tian, you can just call me Old Ma."

Before this, Cao Yang had always called Old Ma "Mr. Müller," and Marco Müller had never corrected him. Was this a sign that their relationship had progressed further today?

Over the next few days, the major trade papers of the Venice Film Festival reported on *3-Iron* in turns, all giving it relatively high scores.

Although none gave it the highest score, it was always in the top three, either ranking second or third.

According to past experience, those ranked first in the major trade papers rarely win big awards, and some don't even win any awards in the main competition section.

I wonder if this is what they call "the kiss of death" for a frontrunner.

Then, whether it was Sony Pictures Classics or Old Ma's doing, several Italian actresses stood up to call for the protection of women, the boycott of violence, and for society to grant women more rights and dignity...

This sparked even more discussion, with various women's organizations jumping out one after another, making their presence felt and creating quite a stir.

At present, the public discussion space on the domestic internet consists of web portals and BBS forums.

The web portals are mainly Sina, NetEase, and Sohu, while the largest and most active BBS forums are Tianya Club and Xici Hutong.

Those active on Xici Hutong are mostly people with academic backgrounds and professional expertise, many of whom are idealists with a critical spirit.

Well, they are essentially the earliest public intellectuals.

Back then, "public intellectual" was still a positive term; although their discussions weren't necessarily correct, expression itself is a value.

Those active on Tianya Club are more numerous and diverse, more populist; the early batch of web surfers mostly lurked on Tianya.

Just at the beginning of the year, after Li Xiaoran won Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival, Tianya Club had a heated discussion for a while, and it was then that a post attracted a large number of replies.

"Who will be the next Best Actress at the three major European film festivals?"

At that time, the ones most favored were International Zhang and Xun Ge'er. As for the other two of the Four Dan Actresses, Little Swallow and Xu Jinglei, not many were optimistic about them, and there were even fewer people choosing them than those choosing Zhang Manyu and Gong Li to win again.

Just recently, this post has been hyped up again.

The reason is that *Hollywood Hong Kong*, starring Xun Ge'er, was selected for the main competition section at Venice.

One reply was the most representative:

"Who is Chen Guo? He is the Best Director at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, the Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and the Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.

He was selected for the main competition section of the Venice Film Festival last year, and he has been selected again this year; it should be his turn to win an award.

With Xun Ge'er's acting skills combined with Chen Guo's directorial prowess, the probability of Xun Ge'er winning Best Actress at Venice this year is infinitely high.

I'll put it out there: the next Best Actress at the three major European festivals will definitely be Xun Ge'er!

Come and debate me if you disagree!

On September 8th, I will let you witness a miracle."

Although *3-Iron*, starring Yu Feihong, was also selected for the main competition section of the Venice Film Festival, almost no one was optimistic about her winning Best Actress at Venice.

Yes, truly almost no one.

The reason, as everyone knows, is that Sister Feihong is not known for her acting skills...

!

Didn't you see that when Xun Ge'er praised Sister Feihong earlier, she was praising her beauty and temperament to death?

On September 7th, the crew officially received notification to attend the closing ceremony. Liu Ye couldn't help but cheer, and Yu Feihong smiled from ear to ear.

She didn't close them even at night.

Cao Yang felt a different kind of charm from his sister.

When the news reached home, traditional media couldn't report it in real-time; only online web portals could update the news in a timely manner.

"Renowned Director Cao Yang's *3-Iron* Invited to Attend Closing Ceremony"

This time, Sina Entertainment specifically added the word "renowned."

"Director Cao Yang's *3-Iron* Poised to Take Home a Major Venice Award"

"Following Two Silver Bears in Berlin Six Months Ago, Cao Yang to Win Another Major Venice Award"

Because it was not yet known what award they might win, the media could only speculate; some thought it might be Best Director, others thought it might be another Grand Jury Prize.

Some also thought it might allow Liu Ye to win the Best New Actor award.

No media dared to think of the Golden Lion.

Nor did any media say Yu Feihong could win Best Actress at Venice, because everyone was clear about Yu Feihong's acting skills.

The news reached the Beijing Film Academy and similarly sparked huge discussions.

Staying behind to attend the closing ceremony meant that they would definitely win an award.

That is Venice, after all; how could it be so easy?

Dong Xuan also learned of this news, and for a moment, she felt a mix of emotions.

There was clearly an opportunity to go to Venice, to walk the red carpet at the opening ceremony, and to attend the closing ceremony that more people paid attention to; how did she miss it?

She also heard later that Cao Yang only brought Liu Ye and Yu Feihong; Che Xiao and Wen Zhengrong didn't make it either.

She felt much more balanced; if he had taken one of them to Venice, she wouldn't dare to imagine what her mood would be.

Some brothers feel the plot is moving a bit slowly. I just want to say that the three major European festivals are really not that easy to win. If you lack timing, location, or human factors, it's very difficult. I just want to be as logical as possible... You say my plot is moving slowly, what can I do? The plot needs to be logically self-consistent, so I can only add more chapters and ignore the new book rankings.

Finally, I ask for your support with monthly tickets and recommendations. Thank you to all my brothers and sisters! Thank you, thank you.

(End of chapter)