Chapter 53: The Venice Film Festival (Part 1)

  "Hey, dear John, how did you come?" Song Tang escaped from Annie's palm and came to his acquaintance, the male lead actor of "Trash", John Travolta, and asked in surprise.

  John Travolta, as a Hollywood superstar, is known for his good attitude in Hollywood. Even when facing the most difficult media, he always smiles and shows a convincing superstar style. Even when John arrived at the Saragrand Theater, he was surrounded by many reporters, but he still kept his smile on his face.

  At this time, John heard Song Tang's shout, so John took the opportunity to say sorry to the reporters surrounding him and came to Song Tang's side. He gave Song Tang a warm hug with a smile on his face and said: "Hey, good Song, it's really surprising to meet you here!"

  After saying goodbye to Song and Tang, John smiled and nodded at Jessica, asking: "Hello, Jessica, it's been a few months since we last met, you've become even more beautiful."

  Jessica and John were not exactly familiar with each other, but they still knew each other. Jessica, who was following Song Tang, saw John in front of Song Tang and boasted about herself, suddenly revealing a sweet smile, excitedly saying: "Hello, John, nice to see you."

  Obviously, John was thrilled to be at the award ceremony of the Venice International Film Festival at the Sala Grande Theater today. However, when he saw Angelina standing next to Song Tang with a figure and appearance that rivaled Jessica's, his eyes lit up instantly, and then he looked at Song Tang with some confusion: "Song, I don't know who this beautiful lady is beside you."

  Upon hearing John's question, Song Tang couldn't help but tap his own forehead and then continued to introduce: "Oh, haha, I'm so sorry John, forgot to introduce you. This is Angelina Julie, Jessica's classmate and roommate, and now also my good friend."

  John heard Song Tang's introduction and couldn't help but give Song Tang a ambiguous smile, while secretly giving Song Tang a thumbs up. Then, he turned to Angelina and said: "Hello, Julie, nice to meet you, such a sexy and beautiful girl. I'm John Travolta, Song's good friend, you can call me John."

  Angelina nodded politely at John, "Hello John, nice to meet the humble gentleman of Hollywood. It seems I didn't come here for nothing tonight."

  "Haha, didn't expect Miss Julie to be so funny." John burst out laughing and then turned his head towards Song Tang, saying: "Congratulations, Song, you've been nominated for Best Picture at the 49th Venice Film Festival."

  "Thank you, John, and congratulations on being nominated for Best Actor at the 49th Venice International Film Festival."

  Just as they were chatting and laughing, several people came in from outside. There were three men and two women, but these few people were obviously a bit special because the ones who came in were also black-haired and black-eyed yellow-skinned people, just like Song Tang. One of them was Yang Lihua, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency, whom Song Tang knew well. Next to Yang Lihua was a man and a woman that Song Tang also knew very well, but it was in his past life that he knew them. The two were famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou and actress Gong Li. As for Zhang Yimou, the reason why Song Tang could understand him in his past life was because he was the general director of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. However, this was just something that Song Tang knew in his past life, and now, as for their international reputation, it wasn't very big, and Song Tang didn't know them personally.

  However, there are very few Chinese people who are well-known in the international film industry, and even fewer have won international awards. Now, at this foreign gathering, the Venice International Film Festival award ceremony, Song Tang was still thrilled to see someone from his own country. So Song Tang turned to Jessica and the others and said with a smile: "Hello Miss Yang, we meet again."

  Yang Lihua, who was chatting with Zhang Yimou and Gong Li, saw Song Tang approaching her and exclaimed: "Hello Mr. Song, I didn't expect to see you here."

  After finishing, Yang Lihua stretched out her jade-like hand, Song Tang was taken aback for a moment, but then reacted and also stretched out his right hand, and then shook hands with Yang Lihua in a friendly manner. However, afterwards, Song Tang shifted his gaze to Zhang Yimou and the others.

  At this time, Yang Lihua, who had several years of experience as a journalist, immediately understood Song Tang's meaning from his actions. She took the initiative to introduce several people to Song Tang, first pointing at Zhang Yimou and saying: "Mr. Song, this is our mainland's most famous director Zhang Yimou. He has won the Golden Bear for Best Narrative Film at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival and is also a strong contender for Best Picture at this Venice International Film Festival."

  Indeed, Yang Lihua's statement is not wrong. In the 1990s, due to the influence of ideological and economic development, Chinese mainland films were not well-known, and directors who could win international awards were even fewer. Zhang Yimou was able to win the Golden Bear for Best Story Film at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival with his film "Red Sorghum", which praised the Chinese nation's spirit of pride and courage, is indeed not easy. The Berlin International Film Festival, along with the Venice International Film Festival, is one of the world's top five international film festivals, although its influence cannot match that of the Oscars, it is still quite good.

  Then Yang Lihua introduced Zhang Yimou and pointed to Song Dang, saying to the few people: "This Mr. Song Dang, who has recently been popular in North America and is on a roll, is also an American-born Chinese."

  "Hello, Mr. Zhang. It's exciting to meet a few people from our hometown in this foreign land." Song Tang said after shaking hands with Zhang Yimou.

  Although Song Tang was not very famous in mainland China at that time, Zhang Yimou, who worked in the film industry, still knew some of his name. However, after listening to Yang Lihua's introduction, Zhang Yimou and others were surprised by Song Tang's youth. What surprised them even more was that Song Tang, who grew up in the United States, spoke fluent Chinese. Although Zhang Yimou was surprised by Song Tang's youth, he quickly reacted and said: "I didn't expect Mr. Song to be so young. When I was your age, I was still a worker on a farm. What's even more unexpected is that Mr. Song, who grew up in the United States, can speak fluent Chinese."

  "Haha, Mr. Zhang is joking, both my father and mother are Chinese, we communicate in Chinese at home, after all, some things can't be forgotten."

  "Yes! Mr. Song is right, some things are indeed unforgettable."

  "Alright, alright, you two don't have to be so polite. Now let me continue introducing Mr. Song, otherwise the awards ceremony will end soon." Just as Song Tang was discussing with Zhang Yimou, Yang Lihua suddenly interrupted their conversation and pointed to a mature beauty standing next to Zhang Yimou, "This beautiful lady is Gong Li, nominated for Best Actress tonight."

  For Gong Li, Song Tang was not very familiar with her in the past, but at this time, through Yang Lihua's introduction, they can be considered to have met. At this time, Song Tang still had a good greeting and then congratulatory words from Song Tang. The other two men were Chen Yuanbin and Liu Heng. For the two of them, Yang Lihua did not make a specific introduction, only saying that they were screenwriters for the film "Qiu Ju da guan si". Although Song Tang was not very familiar with the two of them, he still warmly greeted them.

  Because the conversation between Song Tang, Yang Lihua and others just now was in Chinese, it was not clear to Jessica and the other two who followed Song Tang what they were talking about. Even Jessica, who had been with Song Tang for the longest time, didn't understand very well. Although she had lived in Song Tang's home for a period of time and learned some Chinese from Song Tang's mother, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world, so it was not possible for her to communicate in Chinese in such a short time. As for Angelina and John, they didn't understand any Chinese at all. However, after this incident, Jessica and Angelina began to study Chinese intentionally in order to be able to communicate with Song Tang in Chinese, which was something that Song Tang did not expect.

  Fortunately, however, several people were not ordinary people. For English as an international language, Yang Lihua and Zhang Yimou could still communicate with each other. So Song Tang continued to introduce Jessica and the others in English.

  "Mr. Song, I really didn't expect you to be one of the nominees for Best Picture." At this time, Xinhua Daily reporter Yang Lihua couldn't help but exclaim.

  But to Yang Lihua's sighs, Song Tang did not respond, because at this time, the 49th Venice International Film Festival awards ceremony officially began with the host's stage.