The next day, "Ming Pao" took the lead in publishing the news that the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars was about to be completed, and the first batch of handprints of ten well-known figures in the film industry were selected, including Shao Yifu and Zou Wenhuai as film producers, and Zhang Che, Li Hanshen, Hu Jinquan and Chu Yuan in terms of directors, and the remaining Xia Meng, Bruce Lee, Mecca, and Xu Guanwen were all selected as actors.

As soon as the list was announced, it immediately aroused widespread discussion and controversy in Hong Kong society, and many critics believed that this list excluded all filmmakers who became famous in Hong Kong before the 70s, artificially cutting off the historical origin of Hong Kong films. Many Hong Kong filmmakers of the older generation also have a lot of criticism about this list.

The "Film Fortnightly" magazine, which was responsible for drawing up the list, immediately took on a lot of public pressure for this, and even had to hold a press conference to give some explanations before the new issue of the magazine was published.

"As the main venue of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Avenue of Stars is not positioned to trace the development history of Hong Kong films, but to highlight the filmmakers who have made outstanding contributions to the internationalization of Hong Kong films.

Chen Baisen, editor-in-chief of "Film Fortnightly" magazine, faced a pile of microphones and explained the selection criteria for celebrity handprints on the Avenue of Stars.

The moderator clicked on the first question from the reporter of "Ming Pao Weekly", and the other reporters present were not surprised by this, "Ming Pao Weekly" and "Film Fortnightly" both belong to the Ming Pao Group. Your own people must be taken care of first.

"Is the handprint inauguration ceremony held together?" The reporter of "Ming Zhou" really asked a very appropriate question.

"It's not. All ten people were separated. Everyone chooses the time according to their own situation, starting in April and finishing before the opening of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, except for the late kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. Chen Baisen paused, and then added: "After preliminary negotiations between us and Mr. Li's family, the inauguration ceremony of Bruce Lee's handprint on the Avenue of Stars is scheduled for his birthday on November 27, and there will be a life-size bronze statue of him completed at the same time." ”

"Will the movie celebrities who are selected every year in the future follow this procedure?" The reporter of "Ming Zhou" then asked again, which was regarded as a supplement to the previous question.

Chen Baisen helped his glasses. "In the first two years, we will give priority to those filmmakers who have contributed to the glory of Hong Kong films, but now they have taken a back seat, and then they will slowly begin to absorb the current popular actors, of course, who comes first and who comes after is not calculated by age, but by how much contribution they have made to the Hong Kong film industry, that is, it is not until you are old to have the opportunity to win this honor."

The reporter of "Ming Zhou" sat down with satisfaction, and then it was the reporter of "Oriental Daily" who was allowed to ask questions.

"Mr. Lam's contribution to the Hong Kong film industry is also outstanding, why is he not included in this list?"

Hong Kong's three major newspapers, Oriental Daily, take a relatively neutral stance. The reporter of the "Oriental Daily" asked such a question on the spot, and the intention was very interesting.

"I told you. The first batch of these people to be selected have been famous since the 70s, and Mr. Lin clearly does not meet this standard. Chen Baisen did not explain much about this matter.

Lin Youlun is fully qualified to enter this list, the problem is that he is unwilling, and Chen Baisen has no choice.

"As the only woman on the list, is Xia Meng's selection related to Jin Yong?" The third person to stand up and ask a question was a reporter from Sing Tao Daily, who obviously had a bad attitude.

As soon as this question was said, there was a buzz of discussion in the audience.

Xia Meng became famous in the 60s, but when Hong Kong films rose in the 70s, he chose to go to the United States, talking about his outstanding contributions to the internationalization of Hong Kong films, Xia Meng is slightly insufficient compared to others on the list, and now it is rumored that Xia Meng was able to be selected because of Jin Yong's efforts behind the scenes.

This is very similar to the situation that after the 4th Academy Awards ceremony was changed to be hosted by the "Ming Pao" Group, Xia Meng's "The Year of Flowing Water" won many awards, and many people felt that the Academy Awards favored this movie so much because of the influence of the organizer "Ming Pao", and Jin Yong had not stepped down as the chairman of "Ming Pao" at that time.

Chen Baisen had to cough, and then suppressed the whispering of the audience.

"Ms. Xia Meng has invested in many films in mainland China as a Hong Kong filmmaker since the 80s, and has made great contributions to the communication between the two places. Moreover, it is necessary for me to remind this journalist friend that Mr. Jin Yong has announced his resignation as chairman of the board of directors of Ming Pao two years ago, and now the entire "Ming Pao" group is the property of Mr. Lin's name, and the speculation you just mentioned has no factual basis at all. ”

Chen Baisen's words were relayed by a TV news program that afternoon, and Lin Youlun, who was drinking afternoon tea with Zhou Xingchi in a tea restaurant, happened to see this program.

Chen Baisen has always been a diehard in Lin Youlun's impression, but aside from this, Chen Baisen is indeed an excellent observer of film media, after "Film Fortnightly" was acquired by "Ming Pao", the film reviews published on it have always maintained a strong independence, even if it is a film invested by Lin Youlun, as long as it is considered by everyone to be a bad place, it will be mercilessly criticized by "Film Fortnightly".

Chen Baisen is indeed a talent, but it has not been reused in the hands of Lin Youlun, the Academy Awards was originally the concept first proposed by "Film Fortnightly", but within a few years of Lin Youlun taking over, he stripped "Film Fortnightly" from the Academy Awards system, in fact, it was a disguised weakening of the authority of "Film Fortnightly", and later let "Film Fortnightly" be responsible for the selection of celebrity handprint qualifications on the Avenue of Stars, in fact, it was also to find something to do for Chen Baisen and his editors. The list of the last is still finalized by Lin Youlun, and there is not much real power.

Dong Qianli, editor-in-chief of "Ming Pao", once asked Lin Youlun about this, Chen Baisen is always left idle, what if he is poached by others? Unexpectedly, Lin Youlun didn't care, the reason was that apart from him, few people in Hong Kong could eat Chen Baisen.

After Dong Qianli heard this, he never mentioned this issue with Lin Youlun again, he was really willing to pay Chen Baisen a salary and could tolerate him scolding himself, there were few people in Hong Kong except Lin Youlun, and Chen Baisen's ability was only limited to film criticism, and in the entire Hong Kong film industry, Lin Youlun's face was in the general environment, and Chen Baisen had no place to stand after jumping ship.

This time, at the press conference, he solemnly emphasized to the reporter of "Sing Tao Daily" that Lin Youlun is the real owner of the "Ming Pao" group, and he is also giving in to Lin Youlun in disguise.

After reading the news, Lin Youlun then made a phone call to Kang Junjie, who was in charge of hosting the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

As soon as the phone was connected, Lin Youlun asked directly without saying anything: "What do you think of Chen Baisen?" ”

Kang Junjie didn't know Lin Youlun's intentions, so he thought about the words a little and said: "Editor-in-Chief Chen's objective attitude towards the movie is very admirable, but his personality is less flexible. ”

"How about I send him to you as a deputy?"

Lin Youlun said this without warning, and Kang Junjie was stunned on the other end of the phone for three seconds before he reacted.

"If this is Mr. Lin's decision, then I don't have any opinion."

Kang Junjie's answer made Lin Youlun very satisfied, in order to further dispel Kang Junjie's concerns, Lin Youlun then said: "Don't worry, after Chen Baisen passes, you only need to hand over some specific things to him to do, such as arranging film festivals and holding film seminars, and you are still responsible for the overall operation and commercial affairs of the film festival." ”

This is equivalent to confirming Kang Junjie's dominant position in the affairs of the film festival, and Kang Junjie happily agreed after understanding Lin Youlun's true purpose. (To be continued......)