Chapter 335 of the text Ownership of the Palme d'Or

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After finishing an interview with the Movie Channel, Zhang Ran went to a café not far from the Matetic Hotel.

The café is relatively empty, with only three or four tables of guests, and the premiere of Wang Jiawei's "2046" is about to begin, and many people are going to the scene of this movie.

In fact, Zhang Ran also wants to go to the show, he is half of Lao Wang's fan, but unfortunately he has more important things, so he can only regretfully miss it. Sit down on the couch by the window, and when the waiter arrives, he asks for a cup of coffee and drinks it slowly.

After waiting for almost half an hour, the door of the café was pushed open. Because he was waiting for someone, Zhang Ran couldn't help but raise his head and saw Luc Besson, as well as the thin middle-aged man beside him.

Luc Besson also saw Zhang Ran at a glance, said to the middle-aged man beside him, and then the two walked over to the table where Zhang Ran was.

"Let me introduce, this is Zhang Ran. This is Duteron, the vice president of MK2. Luc Besson came to the table and introduced Zhang Ran and the middle-aged man.

MK2 is a French film company that mainly distributes art films, and has an excellent relationship with the organizing committee of the Cannes Film Festival. It can be said that those who play art films only need to take the MK2 boat and step into the door of the Cannes Film Festival with one foot. The films of directors such as Jia Zhangke, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Abbas can be shortlisted for Cannes, and it is largely because of this company's operation.

Cannes is known as the temple of art films, but it is actually about relationships, and it doesn't matter if the quality of the film is good, it is difficult to squeeze into the main competition unit of Cannes. Take Wang Jiawei's movies as an example, the early films like "Chongqing Forest" and "East Evil and West Poison" were of a very high standard, and the French film critics also had high evaluations, but they just couldn't enter Cannes. After MK2 became the agent of Wong Kar Wai's films, "Happy Spring" immediately entered the main competition unit of Cannes and won the Best Director Award. There are many others who have also suffered, such as Hong Sang-so in South Korea.

Zhang Ran did not seek MK2 to enter Cannes on the MK2 line, but wanted MK2 to be the agent of "Fahrenheit 911", and they would run the distribution except for North America and China.

"Fahrenheit 911" is a film in the main competition unit, and it is by Black Bush, so it is certainly not difficult to sell, but Zhang Ran does not know the film market of various countries and does not know what the reasonable price of each market is. In my memory, "Fahrenheit 911" has a North American box office of 120 million and a global box office of more than 200 million.

Therefore, the best thing to do is to find a distribution company like MK2 to act as an agent, and MK2 will carry out the relevant distribution work. After the release of the film, MK2 takes a percentage of the profits, and the rest goes to the producers.

"Mr. Zhang, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Du Tron looked at Zhang Ran, he was a little surprised by Zhang Ran's youth, and stretched out his hand to Zhang Ran with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Dutron!" Zhang Ran shook hands with Dutron, and then beckoned the two to sit down.

The waiter came over and asked Luc Besson what they ordered, both of them were old acquaintances of the Cannes Film Festival, and they were also familiar with this shop, so they each ordered a drink, and then they drank coffee and chatted slowly with Zhang Ran.

Everyone talked about their views on the film and the content of the film festival, and Duteron asked: "I wonder what Mr. Zhang is looking for me this time?" Luc Besson just told him that Zhang Ran wanted to meet him to talk about the film, but did not say the specific content.

Zhang Ran said directly: "That's right, the copyright of "Fahrenheit 911" is in my hands, but I am busy making my own movie, and "Time and Space Warrior" will be released soon, so I really don't have time to operate the distribution of "Fahrenheit 911", so I hope to find a company to be the distribution agent, and the negative is the distribution outside North America and China." You have a good reputation in the field of art film distribution, I wonder if you are interested in Fahrenheit 911?"

"The copyright of Fahrenheit 911 belongs to Miramax, how did it end up in your hands?" Dutron couldn't believe his ears. Disney banned Miramax from releasing "Fahrenheit 911" Everyone knows, and Michael Moore was still slamming Disney in an interview two days ago!

Zhang Ran said with a smile: "Disney didn't allow Miramax to release this movie, the movie was locked in the warehouse, I think it's a pity, so I bought it from Harvey, and now the copyright is in my hands." ”

Duteron hurriedly said: "I like this movie very much, and I also appreciate the courage of director Moore, and MK2 is willing to be the agent of this movie!"

mk2 is selective as an agent, first of all, it must be a literary film, in fact, it has to be a good look. "Fahrenheit 911" is the main competition unit of the movie, and Michael Moore's "Columbine Campus Incident" two years ago had a good box office, and this time "Fahrenheit 911" is the black American president, the box office will definitely be better, which is exactly the genre that MK2 likes.

Both parties are willing to cooperate, go straight to the point, and start to negotiate the details of the contract. MK2 has a good reputation in the circle, and the conditions given are relatively generous, and they only take 10% of the profits.

The two parties quickly reached a consensus and the contract was quickly signed.

On the evening of May, the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival was held at the Palais du Cinéma.

At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Asian cinema shone brightly, with Chinese director Yang Chao's "Journey" receiving a special mention for the "Caméra d'Or", Thai director Weerashamo's "Tropical Disease" winning the Special Jury Prize, and then Japanese actor Yuya Yanagi won the Best Actor award.

At just 14 years old, Yumi Liule set a record for the Cannes Film Festival, so when Quentin announced the results, there was an uproar in the Lumière Room.

However, Yuya Yanagi did not appear at the scene, and it was the film director Hirokazu Kore-eda who accepted the award for the actor. He took the stage and explained: "Liu Le Yumi will return to China first because he has to take the exam. When I called him, he said he didn't pass the exam and I thought the award should be a consolation to him!"

These words caused a burst of laughter in the audience, but I didn't expect this new actor to be worried about failing the exam, it's really cute!

The guest of honor for Best Actress was French actor and director Vincent Cassel, who is also Monica Bellucci's husband. Cassel walked to the center of the stage, gave his opinion of the actress, and then looked at Quentin and waited for him to announce the results.

Quentin took a look at the list and announced loudly: "It was Maggie Cheung who won the best actress!"

The applause at the scene was thunderous, Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu both stood up and applauded vigorously.

This is the first time that a Chinese actor has won the Cannes Film Queen, and it is also the first Asian actress since the establishment of the Cannes Film Festival, which is a great achievement worth cheering!

Maggie Cheung walked on the stage, received the trophy from Cassel's hand, and said calmly: This is the most unforgettable moment of my life, thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for asking us, thank you to the judges for awarding me the award, this film is very difficult to shoot, I want to thank the producer Gshavir, and all the wonderful crew members, and the actors who worked with me, and finally I want to thank my husband Olivier!

Zhang Jingchu looked at Maggie Cheung on the stage, and her face was full of admiration: "Sister Manyu is really calm, so calm! If it were me, my mind would definitely be blank, and I wouldn't know what to say!"

Zhang Ran nodded slightly, Maggie Cheung on the stage had a feeling that her heart was as calm as water, and her people were as light as chrysanthemums, she looked elegant and calm, so she said: "She has won too many awards, 4 golden horses, 5 golden statues, and a Berlin actress, in terms of awards, she is unrivaled among Chinese actors." When a person experiences more things, his mentality will naturally be calmer!"

Zhang Jingchu turned her head to look at Zhang Ran, and said seriously: "I think she is so charming, I hope I can become such a great actor in the future!"

Zhang Ran shook his head with a smile: "You can't be her, you don't have to be her, you are Zhang Jingchu, you have your own advantages and charm, just be yourself!"

Zhang Jingchu looked at Zhang Ran with a smile and asked, "Then what are my advantages and charms?"

Zhang Ran thought about it seriously: "Your biggest advantage is that you don't have an advantage, and your biggest charm is that you don't have charm!"

"I hate it!" Zhang Jingchu smashed Zhang Ran with her fist, then looked at him and said aggrievedly, "I have this image in your eyes?

Zhang Ran smiled: "Just kidding, your biggest advantage is that you have a sunny mentality, and you don't have so much weight on gains and losses, which is better than me." In fact, whether it is an actor or life, it is very rare to have such a mentality. ”

Next was the Jury Prize, which, as Zhang Ran remembers, won Park Chan-wook's "Old Boy".

Now that only the last Palme d'Or is left, Zhang Ran is a little nervous. Will history follow the established track?

Quentin, the chairman of the jury, did not talk nonsense and directly read out the final result: "The winner of the Palme d'Or at the 57th Cannes International Film Festival was "Fahrenheit 911"!"

In fact, Quentin wanted to award the best actor to George W. Bush, but Jacob repeatedly persuaded that this would be very detrimental to the film festival, and hoped that everyone would give up this thunderous idea. In the end, Quentin proposed a quid pro quo that "Fahrenheit 911" had to win the Palme d'Or, and the organizing committee had no choice but to acquiesce.

The audience at the scene was stunned when they heard that it was "Fahrenheit 911" that won the Palme d'Or, and many people were confused, thinking that they had heard it wrong. Cannes is notoriously dismissive of documentaries, with only three nonfiction films in competition, including "Fahrenheit 911," in the past 50 years, and the last time a documentary won an award was 48 years ago.

Zhang Ran laughed and applauded vigorously, the Palme d'Or of "Fahrenheit 911" was not fanned by his own butterfly, and he won the bet.

In Zhang Ran's original plan, it would probably take two years to have enough funds to carry out his own project, but now with the two movies "Time Soldier" and "Fahrenheit 911", maybe the whole plan can be advanced at the end of the year!

Hearing Zhang Ran's applause, the audience at the scene came back to their senses and applauded vigorously.

To the standing applause and gaze of the audience, Michael Moore walked onto the stage with a soft hug with Quentin, took the Palme d'Or, and then held it high.

Amid the cheers, an excited Michael Moore didn't know what to say: "What did you do? Your decision will ensure that the American people will see the film, which will increase the chances of the film being released in the United States. My best hope for this film is for every American to see it. A great president once said that Americans can be saved if they bring the truth and the republican system to the people. This president was called Abraham Lincoln. I don't know how to express my gratitude for that. It was you who focused the attention on this film, and it was you who made it possible for the American people to understand the truth about the entire war! Thank you!"

The audience applauded thunderously, it takes courage to make a movie like "Fahrenheit 911", and Michael Moore is undoubtedly a respectable filmmaker.

Zhang Ran applauded, while looking at Harvey not far away, he thought that Harvey would be depressed and even angry, but what was surprising was that Harvey was laughing, and it was the kind of laugh that succeeded in his treacherous scheme. (To be continued.) )