Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 207 It can't be suppressed, it simply can't be suppressed!

"The Sixth Sense" received 6 nominations, and "Love" received 3. That's not a huge number, but it's certainly not a small number either.

Most importantly, Wu Yuchen's desired nominations were basically all on the list, including Best Foreign Language Film for "Love" and Best Director, which gave him even greater ambitions!
"Congratulations, Wu, you have achieved a new accomplishment: two films by the same director have been nominated for the Best Director award!"
This is absolutely insane! I never imagined something like this would happen, but you've actually accomplished something that has never been done since the Oscars were founded!

Richard was also very excited at this moment. He had previously proposed this idea to Wu Yuchen, but he never expected that it would actually come true with Wu Yuchen's help, which completely exceeded his expectations. Therefore, even though he had been engaged in Oscar public relations for quite some time, Richard was very excited.

On the contrary, Wu Yuchen, who had adjusted his mindset during this period, spoke up to persuade him: "Hey, Richard, calm down. It's just a nomination, you haven't actually won the award yet!"

Richard gripped Wu Yuchen's shoulder:

"No, no, Wu, do you know what? This is even harder than winning an Oscar! Two Oscar nominations, every step you take now is making history!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and patted Richard on the shoulder: "It's us!"

Richard smiled upon hearing this, paced back and forth a couple of times, then rubbed his face, took a deep breath, and said, "You're right, Wu, it's only a nomination now. It's not a success until we win the award!"

Richard and Wu Yuchen then sat down and began to analyze the roster in detail.

"Wu, there are five awards related to you personally. Let me first share my personal opinion."

First, the most prestigious award, Best Picture, although "The Sixth Sense" was nominated, "American Beauty" has a significant advantage and is highly anticipated. However, "The Sixth Sense" contains supernatural elements, which is a disadvantage.

Then there's Best Foreign Language Film. *Amour* is already at least a step ahead. The only real competitor is the Spanish film *All About My Mother*, but your personal influence and film exposure far surpass that of the movie, so this should be our most promising award at the moment!

Richard immediately pointed out Wu Yuchen's two weakest and strongest areas for winning awards, a point Wu Yuchen readily agreed with. He understood Richard's meaning: he needed to clearly identify his strengths and weaknesses, then prioritize and focus his main energy and resources on the awards he had the best chance of winning.

Wu Yuchen nodded and said:

"We absolutely must win Best Foreign Language Film for 'Amour.' With it, my Oscar journey will not be a failure no matter what."

For Wu Yuchen, as long as "Love" wins Best Foreign Language Film, he will have already achieved his goal. When he returns to China, he will definitely be praised to the skies. It is the first Chinese-language Oscar. Whoever wins this honor can basically live off it for a lifetime in China.

"We can give up the Best Picture award for 'The Sixth Sense'. As for the Best Editing award, I don't value it that much; let's leave it to the other editors."

Actually, the previous version of "Amour" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, but now that it has a Chinese story and background, it was not nominated for the Best Picture award this time, which shows that the Oscars still have some discrimination.

Richard noted down Wu Yuchen's attitude and then continued:
"So, now let's talk about the remaining two awards. One is Best Original Screenplay, and the other is Best Director. Your films 'Amour' and 'The Sixth Sense' are nominated for both of these awards. And in the same situation, you face a very strong competitor for both of these awards, namely 'American Beauty.' You have to make some choices, otherwise there is a possibility of the votes being split."

In the Oscar voting, taking Best Director as an example, it's not that just because Wu Yu-chen voted for both "The Sixth Sense" and "Love," the votes can be combined. If Wu Yu-chen didn't guide the voting, it's very possible that each film would have received 1200 votes, but "American Beauty" would have won with 1500 votes.

Therefore, Wu Yuchen must choose between these two nominated options and focus his public relations efforts on one of them.

Wu Yuchen first looked at the Best Original Screenplay award. If he had to choose between "Love" and "The Sixth Sense", it wouldn't be difficult to make a choice, because the script of "The Sixth Sense" was obviously more impressive, especially the shocking twist at the end. "Love" didn't win because of its script; it was just an ordinary story about the birth, aging, sickness, and death of an elderly person.

"The best original screenplay revolves around 'The Sixth Sense'!"

Upon hearing Wu Yuchen's words, Richard quickly took notes. At the same time, Wu Yuchen's gaze fell upon an award that had fueled his even greater ambitions—the prestigious Oscar for Best Director!
To be honest, he wouldn't have even considered competing for Best Director with either *The Sixth Sense* or *Love*, even though both films were nominated for the award in his previous life. But now, he's managed to have both films nominated simultaneously—two out of five nominations!
As Richard said, this is a feat never before accomplished in the history of the Oscars. In Wu Yuchen's memory, the first time someone has done this in Oscar history will be at next year's Oscars, when director Steven Soderbergh received nominations for two films and won Best Director.

Now that we've come this far and met these conditions, why can't he think more about and look forward to the Best Director award?
He doesn't know if he can win it, but if he doesn't even dare to think about it or try, then he definitely has no chance of winning the award.

But now he faces a choice: The Sixth Sense or Love?
"The Sixth Sense" and "Amour" embody two different techniques and styles, but when it comes to the films themselves, the same issue remains: "The Sixth Sense" has supernatural elements, while "Amour" is a realistic film. However, "Amour" is a Chinese story, while "The Sixth Sense" features white actors and is set in America. In other words, both films have their strengths and weaknesses.

This choice concerns Wu Yuchen's chances of winning awards in the future, so he can't afford to be careless. He thought about the various preliminary awards he had attended over the past few months. Both films had been nominated multiple times, but in the Best Director category, "Love" seemed to be more favored by the judges.

Wu Yuchen said, "Richard, tell me again about the ages of the Oscar judges."

Richard immediately replied, "According to research, as of 1998, the median age of Oscar voters was 64, with voters under 50 years old accounting for 12% of the total number of voters."

"That means more than 50% of the judges are over 64 years old, and 88% of the judges are over 50 years old?"

"As you think."

"Best Director, followed by a public relations campaign around 'Amour'."

Wu Yuchen smiled as he announced his decision. When he initially made "Amour," he had considered that the Oscar judges, mostly older people, would have a strong empathy for the film's subject matter. However, it seems the results have exceeded expectations. "Amour" not only gained a significant advantage in the Best Foreign Language Film category, but also surprisingly garnered many judges' votes for Best Director!

Putting aside the fact that "The Sixth Sense" is his mixed-race son and "Amour" is his pure-blooded Chinese, just considering the chances of these two films winning the Best Director award, based on his experience over the past few months, "Amour" has a greater chance.

"Okay, next, we'll focus our publicity on your two nominations, having the media constantly emphasize how remarkable this achievement is, so that the judges will consider this factor when voting. At the same time, Wu, you can't show any sign of giving up on other awards; you must publicly demonstrate your desire to win."

Wu Yuchen nodded, understanding the principle: those who aim high will achieve something in the middle, and those who aim for the middle will achieve nothing.

This sends a clear message to the judges: he deserves all five awards. Some judges might feel that giving him all of them is too much, and perhaps voting for him in three or two categories would be enough. However, if Wu Yuchen had stated from the beginning that he only wanted three awards, some might have felt that giving him just one would have been sufficient. During the voting period, many judges harbored this centrist, or rather, a desire to divide the spoils.

……

Of all the films nominated for the Oscars this year, "American Beauty" is undoubtedly the most attention-grabbing. With eight nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, it's considered a frontrunner and a strong contender for this year's awards.

However, if we're talking about the most talked-about director, or even more talked-about person than just a director, then it's definitely Wu Yuchen!
"Wu Yuchen sets a new Oscar record!"

"An unprecedented double nomination for Best Director!"

"With one person receiving two nominations, is this year's Best Director already decided?"

Tom Cruise, who was nominated for an Oscar this year, is undoubtedly attracting a lot of attention, and the viewership of this year's Oscars ceremony will likely be one or two percentage points higher because of him. However, his limelight has been overshadowed by someone else, Wu Yuchen, who made history by having two films nominated for Best Director!

Many people have probably seen his film "The Sixth Sense," or at least heard of it. It was one of the most impactful films of last year, and has now grossed $3.8 million at the North American box office, while also receiving extremely high praise.

But today we're not going to talk about the famous "The Sixth Sense," but rather another Chinese-language film by Wu Yuchen, "Love."

……

To want you to live is love, to not want you to leave; to let you die is also love, to not want to see you suffer. We can always face the end of our own lives with equanimity, but it's hard to face the gradual departure of loved ones, and the most painful thing is being powerless to stop it. Wu Yuchen's song "Love" constantly questions us: When a loved one is tormented by illness, what should we choose? Should we respect their wishes and let them find relief, or should we simply want them to live even if they suffer? There is never a right answer to this question, and it is precisely because of this that it touches our hearts and forces us to confront death.

The film primarily revolves around two major themes: love and death. Death is the end of life, while love is its pinnacle. I believe this is what director Wu Yuchen wanted to convey to us.

One thing is undeniable: the simultaneous nomination of two films of different styles, *Love* and *The Sixth Sense*, already demonstrates Wu Yuchen's extraordinary directing ability. In some ways, this record-breaking feat is more meaningful than an Oscar.

Whether this year's Oscar will go to this historic director is a major point of interest.

In The Hollywood Reporter, a column was dedicated to Wu Yuchen and the magazine "Love," which was undoubtedly influenced by Richard's PR efforts.

Everyone knows this, because during awards season, you can't expect to get any attention without spending money on PR. However, even with PR, you need something noteworthy, like Wu Yuchen's double nominations, which were indeed very eye-catching and attention-grabbing. The Oscars have been around for over 70 years, and every new record is hard to break. When you make history, you're destined to become a focus of attention!

Not only in Hollywood, but also in China, the Oscar nominations caused an uproar when they were announced. This time, even Wu Yuchen couldn't suppress the commotion!
After "Amour" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, it had already attracted a lot of media attention, making many people aware that Wu Yuchen had taken "Amour" to participate in this year's Oscars, and it seemed to have a good chance.

When the list was announced, "Amour" not only won the Best Foreign Language Film award, but also received nominations for the Best Original Screenplay and Best Director awards, which immediately ignited everyone's hopes!
Back when Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou went to the Oscars, they only received one nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, while Wu Yuchen received three nominations, all of which were for major awards. The difference in treatment is obvious!

Putting aside the history of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, just looking at the other four films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film this year, which other film can receive this treatment? None, not a single one!

What kind of treatment is this? The treatment of a seeded player!

Without a doubt, this time "Love" is the closest a Chinese-language film has ever come to the Oscars, which immediately ignited the high enthusiasm in everyone's hearts.

"A top contender for Best Foreign Language Film – Amour!"

"The Chinese-language film that came closest to the Oscars - Love".

"Wu Yuchen is poised to become the first Chinese-language Oscar winner!"

"First win the Golden Lion, then the Golden Globe, Wu Yuchen aims for the Oscars with 'Love'!"

"Analyzing the possibility of 'Amour' winning an Oscar."

"Amour is the biggest favorite for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars!"

"Love" receives widespread acclaim in Hollywood; Wu Yuchen conquers America across borders!

First came a wave of reports about "Love," discussing the film from various perspectives.

What's even more exciting is that Wu Yuchen not only has one film, "Love," participating in this year's Oscars, but also has a foreign son called "The Sixth Sense"!
In the prevailing view in China, a film is the director's flesh and blood, their own child. Therefore, although the story and actors of *The Sixth Sense* are not Chinese, since it's Wu Yuchen's "foreign son," it carries half of our Chinese blood!

The foreign film "The Sixth Sense" lived up to expectations, winning six nominations, including important awards closely related to Wu Yuchen such as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

Wu Yuchen's breaking of Oscar history and setting a record was naturally discovered by the Chinese media immediately.

"On the significance of Wu Yuchen's two nominations."

"With Wu Yuchen employing a double insurance strategy, how strong are his chances of winning Best Director?"

Could Wu Yuchen become the first Chinese director to win an Oscar?

Immediately, the public's curiosity and enthusiasm were aroused. Even those who didn't usually follow movies started buying newspapers to pay attention to Wu Yuchen's Oscar bid. In no time, Wu Yuchen's Oscar bid, which had previously been relatively low-key, became the focus of national news, no longer limited to moviegoers; in today's terms, it went completely beyond the mainstream!
Some netizens even started copying foreign reports from overseas websites and posting them on Tianya Community for everyone to read. This made Tianya Community stand out among all the forums and become the main base for domestic film and television discussions, with people constantly paying attention to Wu Yuchen's latest developments.

Not only in mainland China, but also in Chinese-speaking regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, and even in Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, people have begun to pay attention to Wu Yuchen's bid for the Olympics.

After all, Wu Yuchen not only has a chance to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but he has also achieved the unprecedented feat of being nominated for two Best Director awards. Winning the Best Director Oscar seems to be a very real possibility!

It's worth noting that in the more than 70 years since the Oscars began, no Asian director has ever won the Best Director award. Leaving aside South Korea, which has absolutely no connection to the Oscars, even the Japanese film emperor, the master Akira Kurosawa, who garnered a large following among Hollywood stars like Spielberg and George Lucas, won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement, but never won Best Director, not even a nomination.

Therefore, Wu Yuchen now represents not only Chinese people, but also the Asian community. This is the closest the entire Asian region has ever come to winning the Best Director award!
Meanwhile, Wu Yuchen naturally received calls from various people who were paying attention to him. Han Sanping was particularly enthusiastic; he had only been at the China Film Group for a year, and if Wu Yuchen could win an Oscar and bring glory to Chinese cinema, that would be a huge achievement for him!

Moreover, he has always had a good relationship with Wu Yuchen. With Wu Yuchen's support, wouldn't it be even easier for Han Sanping to make any moves in the future?

"Brother Wu, I know you're being modest, but you're being way too modest! If it weren't for the Oscars list being released, we'd all still be in the dark!"

"Brother Han, I'm not being modest, but don't be fooled by the number of nominations I have. Nominations are just nominations, and they don't really give me much of an advantage right now. Brother, please help me suppress the public opinion in China, and don't overhype me!"

Wu Yuchen discussed this with Han Sanping on the other end of the phone.

"It can't be suppressed, it's simply impossible to suppress!"
"Brother Wu, there's nothing we can do now. Your two Best Director nominations have set a new Oscar record. Who can control these media outlets? If we don't let them write about you, we're not letting them make money. Besides, they're saying nice things about you, not insulting you. How can we control them?"

Hearing Han Sanping's words, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but sigh. That's how public opinion is in China. Let alone now, it's only 2000. Even 20 years from now, the confidence of the Chinese people will be much higher than it is now. If a capable person creates a similar achievement, it will also attract heated discussions across the internet.

At this point, Han Sanping asked, "Brother Wu, tell me the truth, what do you think are the chances of 'Love' winning an award? And what about the other awards? I know about them and can help you communicate with them again."

After thinking for a moment, Wu Yuchen also revealed the truth to Han Sanping:

"Brother Han, I'm pretty confident I'll win Best Foreign Language Film, about 80% sure, unless I'm really unlucky and it's a huge upset. As for the other awards like Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, I really can't say. Even though I have a good chance, I wouldn't dare to say for sure. Best Film is basically out of the question."

When Han Sanping heard Wu Yuchen say that he was 80% sure he could win the Best Foreign Language Film award, he was overjoyed. He didn't ask for much more; as long as Wu Yuchen could bring the award back, he would be a great hero!

"Haha, Brother Wu, with your words, I feel much more at ease! Don't worry, I'll risk my reputation to put in a good word for you this time. Once you get good news, we'll celebrate together!"

Han Sanping kept his word and personally called the leaders of major newspapers one by one. It wasn't that he wanted them to stop reporting on it, but rather that he wanted to control the hype. Most of the topics were focused on the Best Foreign Language Film award, since Wu Yuchen had personally said he was determined to win it.

As for the other awards, such as Best Director, we can conduct a popular science and rational analysis, emphasizing how difficult it is to win, to lay the groundwork for future developments. This way, we can be both offensive and defensive, and even if we don't win, we'll have something to say.

Wu Yuchen no longer has the time or energy to pay attention to domestic public opinion and trends. With the announcement of the shortlist, the Oscar competition has entered its second stage, which is the moment when the five films will use all their skills and tactics to fight a fierce battle.

For example, Wu Yuchen keeps emphasizing his two Best Director nominations, but at the same time, some people have pointed out that he is too young. Such a young person obviously lacks experience. How can there be a Best Director in the world who is only in his twenties?!
(End of this chapter)