China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 712: The Academy Awards That Broke the Balance
The Academy Awards are usually held in the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, adjacent to the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

This place is located in the prime land of Star Ferry Pier. In addition to being a cultural center, it is also a commercial center.

Every year when the Academy Awards are held, they attract a large number of Hong Kong movie fans and foreign tourists.

Sun Yi and his group chartered a small yacht and were crossing Victoria Harbour towards the Cultural Centre Grand Theatre.

“That used to be the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway.”

On the second floor of the yacht, Zhou Xun stood beside Sun Yi, holding the railing, enjoying the sea breeze while introducing him.

“Do you see that clock tower? It was built in 1915 and is now one of the few Grade I historic buildings left on Hong Kong Island.”

Sun Yi looked in the direction Zhou Xun pointed.

There is indeed a clock tower with a classical shape.

When I came to Hong Kong Island with Liu Yifei before, I didn’t pay much attention to this place.

Zhou Xun was not with Sun Yi on this trip to Hong Kong Island. They only reunited after arriving in Hong Kong Island.

Zhou Xun did not have any works nominated this year, but she was invited to be the award presenter tonight.

"Oh, how can I say it? It has to be the eldest sister. Such knowledge is so profound!"

Maybe it’s because Weekly News is going to present the Best Actor award tonight, and Zhang Yi, a Best Actor candidate nominated for "New World", has already started to flatter impatiently.

"Oh, flattery is useless. Even if it's you in the end, I still have to say Song Wen's name."

"Hey, sister, look at you. Our relationship isn't good anymore. Can't you just say a few nice words to make me happy?"

Zhang Yi said helplessly with a sad face.

"Why, you don't have confidence in yourself?"

Who is Zhou Xun? Although she looks petite and quirky, she is actually very smart and can see Zhang Yi's emotions at a glance.

It's nothing more than using jokes to cover up one's nervousness and lack of confidence.

"Sister, if it were you, would you have the confidence?" Zhang Yi hung his head. Zhou Xun really hit the nail on the head.

This year's Best Actor Award at the Academy Awards can be said to be the most competitive in recent years.

Look at what kind of gods and immortals they are.

"Confucius: The Final Battle of Spring and Autumn" by Chow Yun-fat, "Moon Over Hennessy" by Cheung Ge-shen, "The Informant" by Prince Tse and Cheung Ka-fai, and "New World" by Cheung Ngai and Cheung Song-wen.

There are 6 candidates, and they are all powerful actors.

He didn't even have absolute confidence in his elder brother Zhang Songwen from the same company, let alone the others.

Playing this joke on Zhou Xun was just to seek comfort.

Sun Yi also interrupted at this time, turned around and smiled at Zhang Yi:
"Brother Yi, don't worry, your performance in the movie is definitely like this."

As he said this, he gave Zhang Yi a thumbs up.

"You can do it, be more confident."

"Really? What about Lao Zhang?"

"Ah, he can do that, too."

"."

Frankly speaking, it's hard to tell who's better between Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen's performances in "New World".

Perhaps from the perspective of character design, Zhang Songwen's Ding Qing has more dramatic tension and is more likable, but in terms of the depth of performance, Zhang Yi's Li Zicheng is more difficult to grasp. Although he has a wronged face and is very depressed throughout the movie, the emotional progression brought about by several plot changes was interpreted by Zhang Yi without reservation.

If Sun Yi were to analyze the issue from the perspective of a film director, and if they had to decide who was better, in his heart he actually preferred Zhang Yi.

However, tonight is the Academy Awards, so what he says doesn't count.

At 3 pm, a long red carpet had been laid out on the square of the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and countless media reporters and movie fans surrounded the entire square.

Every time a crew passed by, there were cheers from the audience.

It has to be said that the Hong Kong Island entertainment industry is the forerunner of the mainland entertainment industry. The red carpet ceremony is surprisingly long, and every star who walks on the red carpet must attract enough attention from fans before they are willing to give up.

Sun Yi and everyone else had been waiting in the red carpet waiting area for nearly an hour, and the number of people had barely decreased.

He simply started chatting with Liu Yifei on WeChat.

Just last month, WeChat updated and introduced the voice sending function, and Sun Yi finally regained some of his former self.

Now all that’s missing is a circle of friends.

What are you doing?

With a whoosh, the voice message was sent successfully.

In just a moment, Sun Yi received a reply.

[I'm watching your red carpet ceremony online. It's so slow. Why haven't I seen you yet?]

[I don’t know how the organizing committee arranged it. There aren’t that many crew members, but they are moving slowly.]

[Hehe, this means that my brother's crew was arranged to appear last, and it was the finale. I just saw Zhou Runfa walk over! ]

[Haha, let’s not talk about it for now. The guide here notified us to prepare. ]

[Yeah, come on, brother, win the grand prize. I'm watching you from here.]

【okay! 】

After receiving Liu Yifei's blessing, Sun Yi chuckled and put away his phone. Then he straightened his suit, said hello, and walked onto the red carpet with his mainland boy band.

The procedures of almost all grand events in the world are roughly the same. The later the event goes, the more important the guests appear.

The only one behind Sun Yi is Xu Ke’s “Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame”.

Last year, Hong Kong Island cinemas produced many excellent films with a wide variety of content.

Action films include "Ip Man 2", romance films include "Moonlight", police and gangster films include "The Informer", martial arts films include "Sword Rain", local style films include "The Ring", and costume suspense films include "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame".

It can be said that this is the Hong Kong Film Awards with the richest variety of nominees in the past decade.

Moreover, they are all above standard.

Sun Yi and his group of four were all dressed in black suits, just like the members of the Kinmen Group in the movie.

The moment the four people representing "New World" appeared on the edge of the red carpet, the scene suddenly erupted into cheers that were even louder than before.

"Ding Qing!!" "Li Zicheng!"

"Director Sun Yi, I like you so much~!"

The fans' cheers showed everyone how popular Sun Yi is in Hong Kong Island.

"I don't know which lens the little girl is looking at me through."

With this thought in mind, Sun Yi smiled, raised his hand gently, and walked onto the red carpet at a leisurely pace.

The cheers at the scene became even louder, and all the media cameras were focused on Sun Yi and the other four.

The treatment they received was better than that of the local Hong Kong crews just now.

It seems to indicate that the trend of Hong Kong films has turned to the mainland.

A person next to the rostrum curled his lips in impatience as he watched the scene below.

As the chairman of this year's Hong Kong Film Awards, Zhang Tongzhu really doesn't want to see such a scene.

The current attitudes of these fans and the media reminded him of the scene a few days ago when the Academy Awards selection committee held an internal meeting to determine the winners.

As the chairman of this year's Hong Kong Film Awards and a veteran member of the Hong Kong Directors Association, he actually has great objections to Sun Yi's candidacy.

"They are cheating. None of the director, male lead, female lead, male supporting actor, and female supporting actor are from Hong Kong Island. They are completely taking advantage of the loopholes in our selection rules."

“I don’t think New World is even qualified to be a candidate.”

"Yes, yes, Chairman Zhang is right, they just took advantage of the loopholes in the rules." Several members of the selection committee from the Directors Association, Artists Association and Producers Association echoed Zhang Tongzhu's opinion.

"That's not right, Chairman Zhang. Rules are rules. Since the rules are like this, there is no such thing as loopholes. Why? Aren't photographers, lighting technicians, and prop masters part of the Hong Kong film and television industry? Aren't they considered the main creative staff?"

Members of the selection committee of the Photographers Association, the Lighting Association and the Stuntmen's Union spoke out in rebuttal.

Humph, how can these people be counted!

Zhang Tongzhu thought so in his heart, but he couldn't say it openly.

This matter can be regarded as Sun Yi's cunning act. When he was provoked by the Hong Kong media and some Hong Kong film and television people, he thought about making a movie to fight back.

At the same time, they specifically controlled the ratio of the organizing members, using only their own people as the so-called "creative staff" in the public's mind, and chose local people from Hong Kong Island as the behind-the-scenes staff.

Anyone who can participate in the Academy Awards selection has either a Hong Kong Islander as the director or a Hong Kong Islander as one of the leading actors.

In the past 30 years of the history of the Academy Awards, there has never been a film that did what Sun Yi did.

He is a scorpion daddy, one of a kind.

But it still complies with the regulations, and you can't do anything about it.

In the subsequent selection and voting, several people headed by Zhang Tongzhu obviously disliked Sun Yi's "New World". They kept mentioning "Hong Kong style feelings" and "local emotions", which was completely nitpicking.

Finally, He Lisheung, who was also a member of the selection committee, could not stand it anymore. She was different from those members from the behind-the-scenes association. She was a member of the Hong Kong Film Producers Association and represented a number of Hong Kong film and television companies.

"Chairman Zhang, please stop mentioning the Hong Kong wind. The Hong Kong wind is about to turn into the northwest wind."

"Hong Kong films now need to seek a wider market. Is there any market that can surpass the mainland? Or do you, Chairman Zhang, have the ability to make a movie and earn US dollars in Hollywood?"

"Director Sun Yi is now the No. 1 Chinese filmmaker in terms of overseas box office numbers, and he even won an Oscar this year. This is enough to prove his ability."

"If you cannot treat me fairly during the selection, I am sorry but I will withdraw from the selection of this year's Academy Awards on behalf of the Hong Kong Island Film Industry Association."

He Lisheung is not an ordinary member. She represents the financial sponsor. Even the sponsorship of this year's Academy Awards is undertaken by the Hong Kong Film Industry Association.

Zhang Tongzhu was speechless for a moment and could only snort heavily.

Originally, he planned not to let Sun Yi win the award even if his movie was nominated. But now with the support of He Lichang, not only the members of the behind-the-scenes association, but even the members of his own Production Administration Association and Artist Association have defected.

Are you kidding? Your financial sponsor has spoken, who would want to play with someone like you whose half body is buried in the ground?

Zhang Tongzhu was so humiliated that the subsequent selection was completely out of his control as the chairman.

The position of Chairman has power and authority, but it is also nothing more than a title. It all depends on whether all parties give it face.

Now it seems that he was completely defeated in the confrontation with Sun Yi.

Therefore, it would be strange for him to see Sun Yi in a good mood at the award ceremony.

This year is the 30th Academy Awards.

If we look at it from a social perspective, the Academy Awards is like a 30-year-old young man who has just started a family and a career. He is standing at a critical turning point.

Looking back at his past life, his left hand is the Hong Kong films that are deeply imprinted with Hong Kong sentiments, and his right hand is the increasingly growing mainland film market.

The Academy Awards has been looking for a delicate balance, leaning a little bit towards the mainland while still upholding the local Hong Kong sentiment.

Including the nomination list for this year's Academy Awards, it reflects that he is in a dilemma between choosing "Hong Kong sentiment" and "mainland market".

Hong Kong-style feelings include Chow Yun-fat, Cheung Suet-yu, Miriam Yeung, "Moonlight Hennessy" and "The King's Avatar".

In the mainland market, there are Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen in the Best Actor category, Tang Wei in the Best Actress category, Deng Chao in the Best Supporting Actor category, and Sun Yi in the Best Director and Best Picture categories.

It seems to be a dilemma.

But judging from the results, this balance was indeed broken by Sun Yi.

When Zhou Xun walked up to the podium in a black dress and holding an envelope, Zhang Yi's lips turned pale from pursing their lips. Even Zhang Songwen, who was usually calm and composed, frowned.

"The winner of the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor is Nicholas Tse for The Informant."

Zhou Xun finished speaking and quickly glanced in the direction of the "New World" crew.

I didn't see the specific expression, but a picture seemed to form in my mind, and a smile immediately appeared on the corner of my mouth.

Forget it, I won’t tease you anymore.

"And Zhang Yi, New World!"

Double yolk egg.

In the history of the Academy Awards, the last time two leading actors in the same film were nominated for Best Actor was almost ten years ago, when they were Tony Leung and Andy Lau in "Infernal Affairs".

This year, there are two films with four candidates for Best Actor.

It can be said that this is unprecedented.

But the result was a double yolk egg.

If this award still means that this year's Academy Awards is still looking for a balance, then what follows will be completely one-sided.

The presenters of this year's Best Director Award are Chow Yun-fat and Mr. Huang Xiyun.

It has to be said that the two of them standing on the award stage also symbolizes an orderly inheritance.

When Chow Yun-fat opened the envelope and saw the result, he smiled mysteriously at the audience and then switched from Cantonese to Mandarin.

At this point, the audience who were watching the TV broadcast or live broadcast on the Internet might not quite understand it.

But Liu Yifei, who has attended major film festivals and is considered a veteran, widened her eyes.

"Is it, is it??!!!"

After returning to the scene, Zhou Runfa announced the winning results without any delay.

"The winner of the Best Director Award at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards is Sun Yi, for New World. Congratulations."

It was indeed Sun Yi.

At the age of 25, he won the Best Director Award at the Hong Kong Island Film Hall of Honor.

"Thank you to the Academy Awards organizing committee for giving me this opportunity, and thank you to all the crew members who have worked hard for this film. Without you, I would not have received this award. Thank you to my girlfriend Liu Yifei, and thank you to everyone."

It seems that Sun Yi doesn’t know what to say in his acceptance speech if he doesn’t mention Liu Yifei.

Just as Sun Yi turned around and walked off the stage, Liu Yifei grinned happily in front of the screen.

The presenter for the final round of awards, Best Picture, walked onto the stage.

Two heavyweights.

Jackie Chan and Carina Lau.

“I am very happy to be here today to present this award to you all.”

"Jia Ling, have you noticed that young people nowadays are really getting better and better? A best director at the age of 25, I wouldn't even dare to dream of that."

"Yes, I didn't expect it, but in my opinion, it is well deserved."

"Poor me, I haven't even won the Best Actor award yet!"

"Don't be discouraged. In my heart, you have always been the best actor."

"Really? Is he better than your husband Tony Leung?"

"um, yes."

Hahaha.
There was applause from the audience, accompanied by some good-natured laughter.

Although Jackie Chan has been in the industry for many years, he has never won the Best Actor Award at the Academy Awards.

"Okay, big brother, let's give out the awards quickly."

"Well, let me see. Wow, this is incredible. After tonight, it will definitely be big news."

"The winner of the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Film is "New World", Sun Yi!"

(End of this chapter)