Chapter 58: Major Events and A-List Film Festivals

The filming of "My Sassy Girl" was in full swing, with the entire crew shutting out the outside world. Seven days a week, their sole focus was work and more work.

While they were immersed in shooting, the entertainment industry outside was abuzz with major events. The most eye-catching of all was the meteoric rise of a singer. On November 7, 2000, a curly-haired young man with small eyes released his debut album "Jay." Uncompromising in style, with R&B and New Hip-Hop influences that defied mainstream tastes, the album swept through the Chinese music scene upon release, altering its history forever. The era of Jay Chou had just begun.

Alongside Jay Chou, Sun Yanzi also debuted that year, releasing her self-titled debut album, which claimed the year's top spot in sales. The album’s lead single, "Cloudy Day," became ubiquitous, sung across the country, and even won the twelfth Golden Melody Award for Best Composition. She herself was honored as Best New Artist at the same awards, momentarily outshining Jay Chou.

That year, the male world had Jay Chou, and the female world had Sun Yanzi—the two brightest new stars in the Chinese music scene. However, Sun Yanzi’s momentum soon lagged behind, the gap widening, and ultimately, they were no longer on the same level.

Meanwhile, the music scene was turbulent, and the film industry was equally restless. The year’s biggest winner in film was none other than the writer “Mr. Gu,” whose film "The Butterfly Effect" was still a box office hit while another new project had just begun shooting, effortlessly overshadowing established directors like Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Yimou, and Chen Kaige.

But for Director Feng, stirring up headlines was never difficult—a lukewarm film could always be stoked with fresh controversy. Traditionally relying on New Year’s films, this year Feng changed direction, producing a film about middle-aged extramarital affairs, "A Sigh." It outperformed the imported "Mission: Impossible 2" but was, in turn, overshadowed by the newcomer "The Butterfly Effect."

In an interview, Director Feng candidly admitted, "We can’t beat them at the box office, so let’s see who wins more awards!" In front of the media, he boasted that "A Sigh" would definitely win prizes, expressing full confidence in his new film.

Unexpectedly, at this year’s Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, "A Sigh" was completely snubbed—not a single award. It was an embarrassing blow. Feng Xiaogang was indignant, claiming, "As a maverick in the film industry, I’ve parted ways with so-called experts," which was widely reported and circulated in the media.

Naturally, the drama didn’t end there; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so sensational. In a twist of fate, while the controversy over the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards was still raging, "A Sigh" returned from the Cairo International Film Festival with five major awards: Best Film, Best Screenplay (Feng Xiaogang and Wang Shuo), Best Actor (Zhang Guoli), Best Actress (Xu Fan), and the Performance Encouragement Award (Wu Yue). The Cairo International Film Festival was by no means a minor event—it was an official A-list international film festival.

There are many film festivals worldwide, some regional, such as the Golden Horse, Hong Kong Film Awards, and Hundred Flowers, and others without regional restrictions, commonly referred to as international film festivals. The so-called International A-list Film Festivals are those certified by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), recognized globally for their credibility. Currently, there are fifteen such A-list festivals worldwide, with Cannes, Berlin, and Venice acknowledged as the top three by the FIAPF.

Here, “A-list” refers to category, not grade. A-list represents “competitive, non-specialized” international festivals—the truest sense of international comprehensive competition, where every trophy carries the highest prestige in the festival circuit. B-list are “competitive, specialized” festivals, with specific themes required for entry. C-list are “non-competitive”—festivals that only screen films and do not confer awards. Lastly, D-list is for “short films and documentaries,” mostly recognizing shorts, as the A-list already includes a documentary category; thus, D-list is not considered true cinema in the traditional sense.

People mostly hear about A-list festivals because B, C, and D categories are hardly worth mentioning. Simply put, A-list festivals are the world’s best competitive film festivals, as evaluated by the FIAPF.

But just how important are these A-list festivals? That depends on perspective. In the 1950s and 60s, Cannes and Venice colluded to suppress Berlin, preventing it from being recognized as A-list, so Berlin fought long and hard for the title. Cannes and Venice spared no effort to keep Berlin out, which shows how coveted and prestigious the A-list classification was—many filmmakers dream of its awards.

Yet from another angle, consider the most famous intellectual property in American film—the Marvel Cinematic Universe, those superhero comic adaptations. Almost none of the Marvel films could hope for major awards at A-list international festivals; even getting shortlisted would be a challenge. The director Wu Tianming’s daughter once remarked, “Marvel will not have a place in the history of world cinema.” In some ways, the A-list festivals echo her sentiment.

But does Marvel care? If there’s a single most successful case of global cultural export in the entertainment industry, it must be America’s Marvel franchise. As of 2017, the total worldwide box office for all Marvel films was $18,445,000,000.

The average box office per film was $558,500,000! That’s real money. Consider how many people worldwide have seen Marvel movies—what young person doesn’t know Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, or Captain America? And that’s just box office revenue, not even counting the massive merchandise income.

What is cultural export? Crudely put, it’s making money from foreigners with your own cultural products. Marvel has made a fortune from audiences around the globe. In the world of entertainment, who else has achieved such successful cultural export? The combined box office of all films at the A-list festivals might just about compete with Marvel, and even then, it’s not certain who would win.

From this perspective, A-list festivals are just the icing on the cake—they won’t boost your box office or help you export your culture.

With "A Sigh" enjoying great success at the Cairo Film Festival, the Chinese film media were quick to lavish praise on Feng Xiaogang, reporting enthusiastically. Their articles were laced with thinly veiled mockery of the domestic Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards. Feng Xiaogang, delighted, made another statement at the celebratory banquet after returning home:

“I hear Little Gu’s new movie has started shooting—‘My Sassy Girl,’ right? Well, my next film is in preparation too. Both are set for release next year. Let’s see then whose box office is higher and who wins more awards!”

The next day, his words were splashed across entertainment headlines in all the magazines. Director Feng’s new film hadn’t even begun shooting, but he was already building hype, incidentally helping to promote "My Sassy Girl" as well.

When Gu Zhi heard about this on set, he could only laugh wryly, unsure whether to thank Director Feng or resent him.

No matter how many awards were won or how bold the words, at the box office, "A Sigh" was still soundly defeated by "The Butterfly Effect."