Chapter 35: Causing Problem again

Derek Ford's mention of undressing, of course, didn't refer to female actresses bribing judges with their bodies but rather his complaint about the increasing number of nudity scenes in current European art films.

After all, European art films... those in the know understand.

Although there were genuinely artistic films like "Roma," the current environment featured more films that claimed to be art but mainly showcased "female nudity art."

"Hmph, a carnival of demons."

Rin let out a cold snort, as a girl, she disliked such situations.

"I don't know if these people can win awards," Shinji quipped, wiggling a finger, "but they at least manage to secure the lead actress role just by undressing."

"You can be quite tactless."

Rin, who had set aside her book, continued, "It seems our Director Matou is determined to change the entertainment industry's current situation. Perhaps he wants to win an award with his own film to show them?"

Upon hearing this, Shinji slapped his thigh and burst into a nearly maniacal laugh.

"Win an award? For what?"

From the criticism that had already ripped through the ground from the Japanese side, Shinji knew how unfavorably FSN was viewed by film critics. As someone who had no inclination for self-flagellation, Shinji had no intention of humiliating himself at the film festival.

So, FSN only applied for a screening and didn't participate in the competition section.

You see, applying for awards costs money, and Shinji wasn't going to waste money applying for awards for FSN when there was practically a 0.00001% chance of winning. That would be like giving money away to the savvy French.

Rin, feeling a bit puzzled by Shinji's eccentric behavior, and Kariya, who had been in the film industry for a long time, understood Shinji's thoughts.

"Our FSN is only for screening, and it's not related to the awards," Kariya explained to Rin before turning to Shinji. "But Shinji, you've probably seen the list of films competing this year, right? With your director's eye, who do you think is most likely to win the Palme d'Or?"

"Palme d'Or?" Shinji shook his head. "I have no idea."

This was Shinji's honest answer. He genuinely didn't know who might win the Palme d'Or this year.

If it were last year's 55th Cannes Film Festival, Shinji would have bet on Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" without hesitation. That film was just too famous, and even people with a slight interest in movies would know about the film that had won numerous awards worldwide.

As for this year's 56th Cannes...

Sorry, but Shinji's memory didn't leave much of an impression about it.

The only thing Shinji remembered about this film festival was that the former "The Matrix Reloaded" had participated in the screening as a non-competitive entry.

But in this world, Shinji didn't even know if "The Matrix" film series existed on paper.

With the end of the red carpet ceremony, the Cannes Film Festival officially began.

Since they had Waver, a trustworthy assistant, helping with the preparation for FSN's screening, Shinji himself had relatively little work to do once the festival started.

So, with some free time on his hands, Shinji decided to wander around the film festival to experience a world-class film festival firsthand.

Unfortunately, during this year's Cannes Film Festival, Shinji couldn't find any movies he was familiar with, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

The longer he roamed around the festival, the more Shinji realized that he could tell the type of movie being shown without even looking at the posters, simply by observing the length of the queues outside the cinemas.

Movies with practically no one in line were either documentaries or extremely pure art films.

For those with some people queuing up, but not very long queues, most of them were films discussing social issues, such as "Elephant," which was based on a real school shooting incident.

And finally, for those cinemas with long lines outside, they were showing films related to "female nudity art" or at least had similar scenes.

It seems that what Derek said wasn't entirely accurate. Taking off clothes not only earns awards for the actresses but also brings in box office revenue for the producers. That's why there are more and more "artistic films" like this.

After some time, Shinji can estimate the attractiveness of the movie's female lead and the duration of nude scenes by the length of the queue and the intensity of discussions among the waiting audience.

It's no wonder that people have always said that Western audiences have strong tastes; their tastes are indeed quite bold.

While observing the old perverts in the queue to see naked women, Shinji hopes that FSN can also generate such attention.

In fact, despite Shinji being able to wander around in Cannes, the promotion of FSN started long ago.

The promotional team not only released personal posters of the female lead, Altria, early on but also spent a lot of money to play the movie trailer on Cannes' street screens and arranged a special interview for Rin.

Although there's no need for awards, FSN's screening audience reaction must be top-notch to secure high-quality distribution deals.

For a film like FSN, where the entire cast and crew are relatively unknown, attracting a large audience at a film festival can only be achieved through massive promotion.

Unfortunately, FSN's actors lack recognition, and the fact that it's rated for all ages has left French entertainment media with little incentive to cover it, so FSN didn't generate much discussion in local media before the screening.

On the contrary, media from across the English Channel in the UK seemed more interested in the film than the flashy strippers.

The British media's strong promotion greatly helped FSN. Although the Cannes Film Festival is held in France, it attracts media and film enthusiasts from all over the world.

The locals in France may not be interested in British media, but people from other countries pay attention to them. Plus, the magnificent battle scenes shown on the street screens in Cannes trailers gave FSN some recognition in Europe before its first appearance.

Finally, the time came for the fifth day of the Cannes Film Festival, the midpoint of the 12-day event, and FSN's European premiere was set to take place on this day.

FSN's premiere was arranged in a decent cinema, not the main venue of the festival, but still much better than what it was a month ago.

Ironically, as a Japanese film, FSN never had a premiere in Japan, but it had one in Europe, in France.

This was thanks to the extensive work done by Waver, the head of Type-Moon Films' European division, and more importantly, the influence of the European magus' family that Shinji collaborated with in Europe.

However, compared to the premieres of other top-notch films, FSN still seemed a bit humble, and even the most iconic red carpet ceremony was not held.

Mainly because only Rin from the cast had come, and whether she walked the red carpet or not didn't make much difference.

Shinji had no intention of using the red carpet to boost the exposure for others, so he simply canceled it.

While the red carpet ceremony was canceled, pre-screening interviews were still essential.

To create buzz for the movie, thanks to Waver and others' efforts, there were more than 100 reporters from nearly 50 global media outlets at this premiere.

In terms of media attention alone, FSN could barely make it to the top ranks of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

When Shinji, accompanied by Rin and Kariya, entered the movie theater, the media reporters carefully selected by the publicity department approached them for interviews.

The reporters were divided into three groups, with the most surrounding Rin, followed by Shinji, and the fewest around Kariya, who were essentially just spectators.

Because these reporters had been pre-screened, the questions they asked were mostly routine, without anything out of the ordinary.

However, more than the movie "FSN," the reporters were more interested in Shinji's age, and the questions were mostly related to that.

After all, Shinji's current age was not considered an adult in any country, and he was still a teenager in school, while he was the director of a feature film officially participating in Cannes. The contrast between these two identities was too significant.

This was also the main selling point that Waver and his team used to promote Shinji: the 16-year-old genius director!

After the interviews, Shinji stood at the entrance of the cinema and had friendly exchanges with the representatives of the distribution companies.

This premiere was more like a screening for industry professionals and the media. Most of the attendees were media professionals or representatives from film distribution companies from various countries around the world.

Ordinary audience members made up less than one-third of the attendees; they were mostly there to soak up the atmosphere.

If these distribution companies were interested in the film, they would pay attention to the subsequent screenings for the general audience and eventually decide whether to purchase the film.

Because these people who came to exchange ideas could potentially become future partners, Shinji was polite during these interactions, at least maintaining the most basic social etiquette.

Until a certain silver-haired beauty appeared.

"Shinji, we meet again," said Cloris with a smile.

"Yes, we meet again," Shinji nodded. "I hope you enjoy the movie."

Cloris chuckled and covered her mouth. "Of course, I'm very interested in what kind of practical work your theory will produce."

However, Shinji seemed not to notice her sparkling eyes and replied earnestly, "I don't think I'll disappoint you as an audience."

"Come on, Shinji. I'm a representative of the Time Group, you know~ Are you really so reluctant to cooperate with me?"

"I just..."

Before Shinji could finish, Rin, who had squeezed out of the crowd of reporters, interrupted their conversation.

"I'm so tired of talking to those reporters. Shinji, I need to tell you..."

Rin's complaint was cut off halfway when she noticed that both Shinji and Cloris were staring at her.

"Did I get involved in something troublesome again?"

With an intuitive sense that something was wrong, Rin's first reaction was to glare fiercely at Shinji.

"Is this something you caused again?"

Shinji: "???"