Hollywood legendary director

The phone went through.

"Please transfer me to Mr. Schubert...Hi, it's me, Lyman, um, I am in Saint-Denis, are you free today? I want to talk to your company about something. Yes, it’s about the new project. Do you have time? Okay, I'll be there in the afternoon, thank you.

After hanging up the phone, Lehman said to Thomas and Ryan in the room, "I've made an appointment and I can meet in the afternoon."

"Do you plan to ask Europa Pictures for help with investment and distribution?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Of course, there is a distribution company, so we won't be so rushed when shooting, and you don't want to go to the theaters for distribution after the production is completed."

The three chatted, and time passed quickly.

Since the day before yesterday, the screenplay that had been conceived for more than a week was finally finalized by Ryan, and they went round and round to Paris.

Because Europa Pictures’ headquarters is located in a business building in the downtown area of ​​Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the three set off early.

Had a taxi and headed towards the destination.

Lehman looked out the window, looked at the tall buildings, looked at the broad road, and admired this modern metropolis.

The car stopped. Ryan, who was sitting in the co-pilot, paid the fare. The three got out of the car and walked into the Europa Studios building without any hesitation.

After explaining their intentions to the front desk lady, the three were taken to a conference room.

Not long after they waited, the top executives of Europa Pictures came together.

"Lyman, this is Rand Robbint, director of distribution."

In this spacious conference room, Mr. Schubert, the short-haired man who bought the copyright of "Buried Alive" before, began to introduce each other to everyone present, "This is Luc Besson, I believe you will not tell him strange."

Lehman heard the words and saw this familiar face.For this great French director, he had learned many times from major media and newspapers.

"Hello, Mr. Luc Besson, it's an honor to meet you."

As he spoke, he held the right hand that the other party first extended.

"I've seen your work, it's impressive." Luc Besson didn't recognize the birth at all, but continued to smile and said: "I heard that you have a new project again, I hope it will be another one. excellent work."

"..."

After everyone got a little familiar, this meeting of seeking investment and distribution began.

Lehman stood up and gave Ryan and Thomas a wink. When they saw this, they began to distribute the project approval materials to the senior Europa Pictures present.

After a while, I felt almost done, Lehman said: "The film's shooting budget is about 6 million euros, and the shooting time is about two months. You have more detailed information in front of you, so I won't be nonsense. "

"how about it?"

"I think it's a bit risky. This movie was shot in India. I'm afraid..."

"The subject matter is still very good, focusing on university education in India."

"But you have to invest 6 million euros, such a large sum of money, what if you can't recover the cost?"

The people underneath exchanged terms left and right, and the originally quiet conference room seemed a little noisy.

At this moment, Schubert got up and said, "Lyman, how confident are you that the film will be recognized by the market? Without the prospect of profitability, it is difficult for us to make investment and distribution decisions."

"Before each movie is released, who can tell whether it is successful or not, I can only say that I will try my best to create a good story, a good story that can be recognized by the audience, nothing more." Lehman Said calmly.

"But our company doesn't have distribution channels in India, so it can't help much." A middle-aged man stood up and said.

This is Rand Robin, the director of the distribution department introduced earlier. Lehman recognizes him. Obviously, he thinks that the main audience for this film will be India.

"For joint distribution, it shouldn't be difficult to jointly promote this film with distribution companies in India. I think, in the past, when Europa Pictures released films globally, it also had commissioned distribution."

"But even so, the risk is still too great, and it involves overseas filming. I can't think of any good results for non-English films." The director of the marketing department stood up and expressed his opinion.

Indeed, these years, non-English films in the English-speaking cultural circle with Europe and North America as the main studios have not been too eye-catching, even those who won the Oscar Award for best foreign language film production are also It is difficult to make waves.As of this year, only six non-English works have made substantial profits, of which only two are very profitable, one is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" from the mainland and the other is "Beautiful Life" from Italy.

The xenophobia of cultural circles can be seen from this, and it is also a situation that makes all non-English films the most troublesome.

Therefore, Europa Pictures’ worries originate from this. The development space is very limited, and the prospects for reclaiming profits are very uncertain. Instead of spending energy and funds to produce such films, it is better to concentrate on capturing the screenings in this cultural region.

Perhaps, it is only natural that they would choose to give up on this slightly tricky project.

Lehman felt a little frustrated when he heard these suspicious questions.

It was a whim, he wanted to take a picture of the status quo of education in India from the perspective of an outsider, not to over-beautify or ugly, but to maintain a normal mind and maintain a fair depiction of the light and shadow society. As for, it can bring something to the audience. Reflection and change is the biggest role of this film.

The caste system is the dregs of a civilized society and should have been abandoned long ago.

If you don't understand it, it's really hard to imagine that in this modern society where the whole world is beginning to face class issues, there will be such a gap between respect and inferiority.

People of low castes have been sentenced to death from birth. When they grow up, they often do the work of servants and craftsmen, and their ascent space is extremely narrow. Such coldness is rarely known.

At least Thomas is not clear. He has learned about the Indian caste system from textbooks, but he does not understand some of these phenomena at all. He also believes that the Indian government has cancelled this social system.Yes, how can outsiders in a civilized society take care of things that don't overlap with their lives.

Under Ryan's detailed multi-faceted evidence collection, Lehman, who knew a little bit, and Thomas, who was not so clear, were surprised by Ryan's conversation.

He said: In fact, those high-caste people do not treat low-caste people as beings of the same species as them. In their eyes, those low-caste are like livestock raised in their homes.

There are hundreds of millions of such human-like animals in India, and Dalit's hybridity, which is not protected by Indian law, is even lower than Sudra.

These people have lost their dignity and honor from birth to death. Perhaps they didn’t do anything they missed. They are diligent, who belong to a higher civilization, the last thing they should not do is to be born. Low-caste families.

But what is even more frightening is that these simple and easy-to-see social problems are still unbreakable.This kind of rule similar to slavery seems to be taken for granted by those who are ruled, and it is absolutely correct.Judging by the indoctrination they received from their low caste since childhood, they should have worked hard for those high caste lords to support and obey.

Of course, all this is ridiculous, and it happens in Hinduism, the most pious belief of the Indians.

Its doctrine advocates that everyone is equal, but the kind of equality is spiritual, that is, the souls of all believers are born equal, but your bodies are not equal, and there is a distinction.Some people’s bodies are naturally clean, such as Brahmans, while lower-caste bodies have been tainted, dirty, and inaccessible.Therefore, the untouchables of low caste will naturally be oppressed obediently. Who makes your flesh unclean? The Brahma God will not shelter the impure flesh.

It's easy to get rid of it. After being reincarnated in the next life, you can vote for a good person and become a Brahman.

The religious regulations also say: low-caste people should wear stinky clothes to hone their will. If they can endure what ordinary people can’t bear and practice daily, they will be able to move the Brahma faster and get away from it. sea ​​of ​​bitterness.

Moreover, the dogma also says: The suffering in this life is short-lived. As long as you work hard, don't deal with other untouchables, otherwise you will be polluted and you will be untouchables in your next life.

How good at managing the masses and a trick to deceive people.

Precisely because of this, the untouchables who belong to the lower caste also look down upon each other.

The chicken killer looks down on the fish killer, thinking that he is inaccessible, will be contaminated, and will not have a good life in reincarnation; the fish killer looks down on the sheep killer, and thinks that he is inaccessible, will be contaminated, and must be kept isolated.

Under this kind of recognition, the lower caste classes have been played with and cannot be united at all. They regard each other as beings like monsters and monsters. They would rather serve the higher caste people heartily, eager to become such nobles in the next life. If they don’t rush into contact with each other and get polluted, it is even more impossible to make their voices heard in the world and fight against the interest classes overwhelming.

It is precisely because of the long-term influence of the dogmatic doctrines taught since childhood and the same view of the parents themselves that this cancer of the caste system has always survived in Indian society.

It's sad, isn't it?

Religion is a sustenance to comfort the soul, but it has become a toy for the rulers and has plagued countless low-caste families in India.

"Lyman, we're thinking about it, and I'll give you a definite answer." Luc Besson said, he is the main talker of this company.

"Okay, I'll go back first, and wait for your news." Qiang cheered up, showing a suitable smile, and the three Lehmans left the meeting room.