87 European Film Festivals

The release of Titanic swept the global market with a strong storm. There has never been a movie that has been able to bring so many shocks to people from the day it was released. This expensive film has lived up to people's expectations, and the tremendous response it has brought is unparalleled.

These effects are most directly reflected in box office revenue. The filming started on Friday, and by the end of the first weekend, the film's box office had surpassed the sum of the two weeks of The Lives of Others, and the big boat had entered people's field of vision with unparalleled momentum.

This kind of momentum affects not only others but also people in the Enigma company.

"This is a big-budget movie in the true sense!" Clarke was very excited when he returned to the company. "The scenes, costumes, props, lines, all aspects are worthy of the investment! This is a good movie, and it is what we should work hard to shoot."

For filmmakers, it's a normal pursuit to make movies that are close to reality, and in this respect, Titanic is quite exciting. Clark is a filmmaker, and he also has these pursuits for movies. After seeing other people's movies are good, he immediately wants to make such a movie himself.

"This is the movie that competes with us at the box office." Alexander, who was sitting on the side, looked somewhat depressed. Titanic had 4,000 screens since it was released, and after the release received good reviews, some theaters immediately wanted to show the film. The expansion of the film is definitely not good news for other films because their expansion means that other films will shrink. "This time, our box office will be affected. We have no way to compete with such films."

"We didn't want to compete in the first place - 60 million is no longer a loss for us." Clark immediately took over the conversation.

His words made Alexander a little annoyed, but Levi stretched out his hand and stopped Alexander, "Clark is right; as long as we don't lose money, it is good. As for the competition, it's just a joke. We can't compete with them. What's the matter? What about being contentious?"

Levi had long expected the Titanic's impact, and now he is the calmest. The sensation of this movie is inherently unstoppable, and it is normal for such things to happen. He thought of this when he accepted the arrangement to avoid Titanic's limelight. Three weeks have passed, and the movie's box office must have declined since this day. The impact is actually not that big.

But he failed to appease Alexander. It was hard for the movie to earn income. Alexander was happy these days, but how could he accept such a blow all of a sudden?

Alexander stood in the room and walked back and forth. After a while, he spoke again, "We can't compete for the box office. Maybe we can compete for other things, too, can't we? Do you think our movie can win awards? How about the Oscars?"

"Alex, you have to understand that although our films are good, we are all newcomers, and our movie is produced by a small company. It is almost impossible to win an Oscar." Levi never expected to win an Oscar. Knowing the enormous influence of this ship, it is very clear that it is not difficult to surpass it in word of mouth in the future, but it is almost impossible to surpass its influence at this time.

No matter who the Oscar judges are, they have to be voted by the people. As long as people vote, it is very likely to be affected-Levi has never counted on this award.

"I'm not talking about the Oscars!" Alexander waved his hand, "I'm talking about sending the film to Berlin to participate in the Berlin Film Festival."

Berlin Film Festival? Golden Bear? Alexander's arrangement surprised Levi a little. He didn't expect that Alexander would arrange for the film to participate in the European Film Festival, but the idea seemed pretty good. He just doesn't know how did Alexander think of it.

"Don't look at me like that. It wasn't my idea. Actually, the Berlin Film Festival sent a letter to our company, asking if our film is interested in participating in the Berlin Film Festival. I think maybe if we won the award, it could promote the DV sales ..."

With this explanation, Levi suddenly realized.

As an international film festival, the Berlin Film Festival is committed to allowing all kinds of good films to participate in their film awards every year. The Lives of Others received good reviews, and it was a movie related to Germany, so Germany naturally paid a lot of attention to it. The three major film festivals have their own emphasis. Cannes is often said to be a gimmick concentration camp, Venice is a pioneer tea party, and Berlin is a political correctional school. Political films with deep connotations are the favorites of the Berlin Film Festival, not to mention that this film's story happened in Germany. If such a film cannot participate in the Berlin Film Festival, the regret is not Levi's but the organizing committee of the Berlin Film Festival.

"Is it necessary to go to that kind of film festival? The United States is about to enter the awards season. It doesn't make much sense to participate in a foreign film festival. We don't need to sell movies. Why do we have to go to those film festivals?" Clark immediately objected.

In his words, there is some contempt for the Berlin Film Festival, and this contempt is not unreasonable. The American film industry has always been extremely arrogant. In their opinion, the best director, the best actors, and the best movies, they must be the best in the world. The three major film festivals have a high status in the entertainment industry all over the world, but only in the United States, they are not the best in the world. For Americans, the most important awards are the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Those who win these awards can call themselves the best actors in the world. As for The three major film festivals? Who cares?

Of course, Americans have such an idea, and in a sense, it should be taken for granted. The ticket warehouse in North America is the largest in the world. The investment intensity of the country is indeed ahead of the world in all aspects, and it is fine to play by yourself, so why bother with the opinions of Europeans?

When it comes to commercial films, the United States is undoubtedly ahead of the world, and even when it comes to filming competitive literary films, Americans are still ahead of the world because of the large investment and better technology. Because of their substantial strength, they have always ignored the three major film festivals, and their attitude is very arrogant. The three major film festivals have some unique rules. They all stipulate that only films that have not participated in other film festivals and have not been screened outside the country of origin can participate in the film festival. Such restrictions will inevitably affect the publicity and release, so Americans don't care much about them.

Moreover, another reason Americans look down on them is that the three major film festivals have unspoken rules. As long as top Hollywood actors participate in the film festival competition, they must be rewarded no matter what: otherwise, The next time they don't come, the Americans don't pay attention, and the American market will be lost. Even if the three major film festivals are all niche films, they can't afford to lose the world's largest ticket warehouse all at once—the three major film festivals function as trade fairs to a certain extent, and they can't afford to offend buyers.

Therefore, for people from other countries, participating in the three major film festivals and winning the Golden Bear, Golden Lion, and Palme d'Or is quite an achievement. Only for Americans, winning the awards of the three major film festivals is not an achievement. Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of Titanic, is now the best actor in Berlin, but who cares?

Those things are nothing to people in Hollywood. As long as they are willing to go, is the thing that everyone has a share counted as an award?

"But go and have a try. It is not harmful after all." Alexander also has his own views on this, "There are many investment institutions in the Berlin Film Festival, and our film is a political film. Maybe we can build relationships with those investment institutions."

Alexander's words are true: political films are often sponsored by special institutions, and there are indeed many institutions at film festivals. Levi knew a certain director from Japan in his previous life. Since he set up the Japanese studio in Berlin, he has devoted himself to shooting banned films with Japanese money.

"Alex, I have no objection if you want our film to participate in the awards. But if you want to get investment, then don't go. I have the final say for my films, and I don't do this kind of thing."

Levi's expression became serious: some money can be taken, and some money cannot be accepted. What should he do if he takes someone else's investment and is forced by them to promote other people's ideas? Isn't that reason he started the company in the first place? He hasn't lost his morals yet and can't shoot anything for a bit of money.

"Taking other people's money and shooting something that promotes other people's ideas, that's not a movie. That's advertising. Alex, I don't object to you liking money, but please remember: I'm not an advertising director and won't take that kind of money." Levi said seriously, "I only shoot what I want to shoot, and I believe that only in this way can I make a good movie!"

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons Cherif Doghri, Abdishakur Hasan, Adam LV, Danny York, haze2343, Scott DePaepe, Dario Cameruccio, MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999, and The Main Man.

You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.