Rebirth: How A Loser Became A Prince Charming

Venice was not a welcoming city. It was the least popular major European film festival that hadn’t nominated Qin Guan for an award.

It was like a shy maid in a mask who dared not reveal her face.

However, that ceremony was different from the previous ones. Qin Guan had been shortlisted for the Best Supporting Actor Award. Plus, he was also one of the nominees for the Best Actor Award with his role in "Lust, Caution".

The organizers also attached great importance to his presence there. Thanks to his status, they had generously granted him an independent position on the red carpet.

As everyone knew, stars could show up with the directors or other members of the crew at international film festivals. This was the best chance for everyone to show off.

Sometimes, the organizers arranged for all the members of a film to walk on the carpet as a group, with a few steps between them to facilitate the host’s interviews and the reporters’ questions. However, most people would rush or stall so they could stand out and create the illusion of being the sole person on the carpet. This way, the studio and the invited reporters could collect better material.

The reporters were not qualified to walk on the carpet. The only ones who could were the members of the judge committee and international superstars.

Being a superstar meant that more than half of the international reporters recognized one’s face.

Thus, the organizers of the Venice Festival thought that Qin Guan qualified. Plus, he was exactly what the festival needed.

The Venice Film Festival was an indie festival, so it was inferior to Cannes in terms of commerce and to Berlin in terms of politics. The proud festival, which had started in 1932, had the longest history out of the three.

It sure couldn’t sacrifice its status in favor of money or politics. Venice focused on art.

Because of the festival’s purity though, the other two festivals were much more influential and popular than it was, which made things very awkward.

The sustainable development of an international film festival lay in the quality of its films and its global influence. Venice had reached a dead end by over-emphasizing on art and filmmakers from around the world.

Novelty films and unique skills were encouraged. Although they had some flaws, creative projects were very welcome in Venice. The organizers advocated that films should be strictly dedicated to art. Such a film festival couldn’t attract the attention of the new generation or find its place in modern life.

Thus, the organizers had gradually made things worse. The selected films were mostly projects of unknown directors. Talented people were rare in the world. Not all independent filmmakers were real geniuses.

It was during this awkward phase that Qin Guan would come and bring world-wide attention and audience ratings.

The organizing committee could foresee that this would be the ceremony with the highest ratings.

A few days before the ceremony, reporters from around the world had already filled most of the local hotels. Fans were also pouring into the city, embarrassing the locals, who couldn’t accommodate them.

The principal of the festival was very annoyed. It had been his choice to arrange for Qin Guan to walk alone on the red carpet.

However, now he was pondering the issue of security. Soon, he got a message from a man named Salvador, who had negotiated with the Italian police and solved the problem.

The police had made an internal selection and picked a group of handsome men who would attend the festival to show Italy’s good image.

Italians were blessed, in a sense. The rate of handsome guys in Italy was two to one.