Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 57 Another Year of the College Student Film Festival

Without hesitation, Hou Yu flew to Hong Kong Island to meet with Wu Yuseng.

Wu Yusheng was stunned when he heard that a professor from Tsinghua University had come to visit him. He did know Tsinghua University, one of the top universities in mainland China.

However, I have no connection with Tsinghua University. Why would a professor from Tsinghua University come to see me?

After the disastrous failure of "Windtalkers," which he directed in Hollywood in 2003, Wu Yu-seng lost his opportunities in Hollywood and had no choice but to return to Hong Kong Island to develop his career.

But the Hong Kong films of this time were no longer the same as those before he left.

The number of films starting production each year is decreasing, and a large number of people in related fields are rapidly losing their jobs. More importantly, the market is shrinking rapidly, particularly the Hong Kong film market.

Some Hong Kong filmmakers stayed in the local market, while a large number of them began to choose to develop in the north. Wu Yusheng was one of those who chose to develop in the north.

However, even though he is a big-name director who has returned from Hollywood, it is still not an easy task for him to reach a cooperation agreement with a mainland film company.

He needs connections and networks in mainland China.

Although Tsinghua University has little to do with the film and television industry, its status as the top university in mainland China speaks for itself. It has alumni in the political, business, and academic circles, and has a wide network of connections.

If he could establish a relationship with Tsinghua University, it would be beneficial for his development in mainland China.

Upon realizing this, Wu Yuseng immediately met with Hou Yu.

After exchanging pleasantries, Hou Yu explained the purpose of his visit.

He brought a short film from Tsinghua University, which was of quite good quality, so he hoped that Wu Yuseng could help out at the Cannes Film Festival.

The two watched the short film in Wu Yuseng's small screening room.

After watching it, Wu Yuseng exclaimed in admiration, "This short film is brilliant! Was it directed by students from your school?"

Hou Yu explained, "This is a film submitted by our school's student club to the Beijing College Student Film Festival last year."

The director and screenwriter are both named Zhang Jun, and they are quite famous in mainland China. He has already directed one feature film, which grossed over 40 million yuan at the box office.

Wu Yusheng was greatly astonished: "OMG! Unbelievable, this student must be a genius!"

Hou Yu said, "There are reports about this in mainland China. Director Wu can go and inquire about it."

But I'll need your help with the Cannes Film Festival matter; the school takes it very seriously.

Wu Yusheng hesitated for a moment before agreeing: "No problem, your short film should win an award. I will do my best to put in a good word for you with the other judges."

Hou Yu was overjoyed: "That's great, thank you for your help, Director Wu."

Although no promises were made, this favor has already been made. Wu Yusheng might find it useful when he goes to develop his career in mainland China in the future.

May is not only the month of the Cannes Film Festival, but also the Beijing College Student Film Festival, which is being held again this year.

Because the college short film competition last year was quite successful, it also discovered a rare commercial film director like Zhang Jun.

Therefore, this component still exists at this year's Beijing College Student Film Festival.

The short film produced by Tsinghua University this year is quite average compared to Zhang Jun's "The Tuner." Anyway, they've already won awards, and now their focus is on winning the short film award at the Cannes Film Festival.

If I can win an award at the Cannes Film Festival, the short film award at the Beijing College Student Film Festival is completely unimportant.

However, Zhang Jun's other film, "Little Miss Sunshine," received three nominations at the Beijing College Student Film Festival, including Best First Feature, Best Comedy, and Best Child Actor.

The Best Comedy Film award was specially created by the jury due to the large number of comedy films submitted this year.

Before heading to Cannes, Zhang Jun needed to attend the Beijing College Student Film Festival.

On the eve of the closing ceremony and awards ceremony of the Beijing College Student Film Festival, the organizing committee of the Beijing College Student Film Festival specially invited Zhang Jun and Lu Chuan to hold an exchange meeting.

Let them, as representatives of young directors, share their experiences in artistic creation with the students.

Although Zhang Jun didn't like Lu Chuan very much, after all, this person had clashed with him several times before, and his father had even hired several intellectuals to smear him.

However, even in such situations, Zhang Jun could still put on a mask and get along harmoniously with Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan himself might not feel the same way. He disliked Zhang Jun no matter what and had originally intended to refuse the exchange lecture.

In his view, Zhang Jun was not worthy of standing with him at all.

Lu Chuan was arrogant, which may have come from his father. Intellectuals who came from the 1960s and 70s often have a certain arrogance.

It gave me a feeling that I was the only one in the world who was awake, while everyone else was apathetic and ignorant.

So even though Zhang Jun graduated from Tsinghua University and achieved success, Lu Chuan still didn't think Zhang Jun could be compared to him.

Perhaps it was because of the media's praise and attention to Zhang Jun that Lu Chuan felt disdain and anger, which led to the conflict between the two.

Zhang Jun didn't care about that; he wouldn't intentionally offend anyone. But if someone disliked him and wanted to make things difficult for him, he wouldn't hold back.

However, during this exchange, the two maintained a superficial harmony.

Lu Chuan, reminded by Han Sanping, did not dare to publicly confront Zhang Jun. Instead, she reluctantly praised Zhang Jun's talent and works.

Zhang Jun was much more natural. He expressed his appreciation for "Kekexili" and believed that it would be successful at this year's Beijing College Student Film Festival.

During the Q&A session, what bothered Lu Chuan was that the students focused on Zhang Jun and paid little attention to him.

However, the reason is simple, because many students are already familiar with Zhang Jun's legendary status.

Compared to directors like Lu Chuan, who have a relatively respectable background, it's quite unusual for someone like Zhang Jun, a graduate of Tsinghua University, to go into filmmaking, so the students are very curious.

One student asked, "Senior Zhang Jun, may we call you that?"

Zhang Jun nodded: "Of course, I just graduated not long ago!"

Everyone laughed, and the student continued to ask, "I want to know why you, as an astronomy student, want to work in the film industry?"

If you want to work in the film industry, why not apply to the Beijing Film Academy?

"Good question!"

Zhang Jun, holding the microphone, replied, "The first reason is that Beijing Film Academy didn't have any enrollment plans in our area that year, so there was nothing we could do."

Besides, as you all know, my college entrance exam score was so high. Tell me, if your parents saw that you got such a high score, would they let you go to the Beijing Film Academy?

The students below largely agreed; given that they could get into Tsinghua or Peking University, no parent would let their child transfer to an art school.

Zhang Jun continued, "At that time, I was also drawn to the starry sky and thought that I would become an astronomer in the future and have an asteroid named after me. I felt very honored."

But I later discovered that it wasn't like that at all; I didn't have the ability to reach the forefront of academia, and at most, I could become an ordinary astronomer.

After a pause, Zhang Jun smiled and said, "Students from Tsinghua or Peking University should be able to understand my feelings, which is that I am unwilling to accept my mediocrity."

I am a chosen one of heaven, how can I be an ordinary person?

So I changed my mind, and fortunately, I did achieve some success, and even had a conversation with Director Lu Chuan here.

Here, Zhang Jun subtly mocked Lu Chuan, implying, "I'm a chosen one of heaven. I can easily reach your status. Who are you?"

Unfortunately, Lu Chuan didn't seem to realize it and thought Zhang Jun was praising him.