Legendary Hollywood Director

The phone is on.

Please help me transfer Mr. Schubert... Hi, it's me, Lehmann, um, I'm in Saint-Denis now, 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, then I'll be there in the afternoon, thank you.

After hanging up the phone, Lyman said to Thomas and Ryan in the room, I have an appointment, we can meet in the afternoon.

Is your plan to ask Europa Pictures to help with investment and distribution? Thomas asked curiously.

Of course, with a distribution company, we won't be in such a hurry when shooting, and you don't want to come to your door to seek theatrical distribution after the production is completed.

The three chatted, and the time passed quickly.

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

Because the headquarters of Europa Films is located in a commercial building in the downtown area of ​​Saint-Denis in the northern suburb of Paris.

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

Called a taxi and headed towards the destination.

Lehmann looked out the window, looked at the tall buildings, looked at the wide 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 Films building without any hesitation.

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

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

Ryman, this is Rand Robint, director of distribution.

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

When Lyman heard the words, he saw this familiar face. As for this great French director, he has learned many times from major media and newspapers.

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

Saying that, he grabbed the right hand that the other party stretched out first.

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

...

After everyone was a little familiar with it, this meeting of seeking investment and issuance began.

Lyman stood up and gave Ryan and Thomas a wink. When they saw it, they began to distribute the project information to the executives of Europa Pictures present.

After a while, it felt almost the same, and Lehmann said, The filming budget is about 6 million euros, and the filming time is about two months. You have more detailed information in front of you, so I will not talk nonsense.

How about it?

I think it's a little risky, this movie is shot in India, I'm afraid...

The subject matter is still very good, focusing on Indian university education.

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

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

At this moment, Schubert stood up and said, Lehmann, how confident are you that the movie will be recognized by the market? Without the prospect of profitability, it would be difficult for us to make investment and distribution decisions.

Before each film 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, that's all. Lehmann Said calmly.

But our company doesn't have a distribution channel in India, and it doesn't really help.

A middle-aged man stood up and said.

This is the previously introduced director of distribution Rand Robint, whom Lyman recognized, apparently thinking that the main audience for the film would be India.

As for joint distribution, it shouldn't be difficult to jointly promote this film with a distribution company in India. I think, when Europa Films distributed films around the world in the past, they also had commissioned distribution.

But even so, the risk is still too great, and it also involves filming overseas. 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-language films have not performed very well in the English-speaking cultural circle with Europe and North America as the main film warehouses, even those film productions that have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Difficult to make waves. As of this year, only six non-English works have made substantial profits, of which only two have made very good profits, one is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in mainland China, and the other is Life is Beautiful in Italy.

This shows the xenophobia of cultural circles, and it is a situation that is enough to cause the most headache of all non-English-language films.

Therefore, Europa Films’ concerns also stem from this. The development space is very limited, and the prospect of recovering profits is very uncertain.

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

Lyman listened to these skeptical questions and felt a little frustrated.

He had a whim, and wanted to photograph the current situation of Indian education from an outsider's perspective, without overly beautifying or overly uglifying, just maintaining a normal mind and maintaining a fair depiction of the light and shadow society. As for, it can bring some Reflection and change is the biggest role of this film.

The caste system is the dross 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 has begun to face up to the issue of class, there will still be such a gap between superiors and inferiors.

People of lower castes have been sentenced to death from birth. When they grow up, they often work as servants and craftsmen, and their room for advancement is extremely narrow. Such cruelty 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 the phenomena at all. He also thinks that the Indian government has abolished this social system. Yes, how can outsiders in a civilized society care about things that do not intersect with their own lives at all.

Under Ryan's detailed and multi-faceted evidence collection, Lyman, who knew a little bit, and Thomas, who didn't know much, were surprised by Ryan's conversation.

He said: In fact, those of the upper caste did not treat the lower caste as beings of the same species as them. In their eyes, those lowly were like domesticated livestock.

And 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 that of Sudras.

These people, who have lost their dignity and honor since birth, may not have done anything wrong until they died. They are diligent and high-level civilizations. The last thing they should do is to be born in low caste families.

However, what is even more frightening is that these simple social problems are still unbreakable to this day. This slavery-like rule was taken for granted and absolutely correct in the eyes of the ruled. Judging from the indoctrination they received from their lower castes since childhood, they should have worked hard, supported and obeyed the elders of the higher castes.

And of course all this is ridiculous, and it happens in the most devout belief of Indians - Hinduism.

Its doctrine advocates equality for all, but that equality is spiritual, that is, the souls of all believers are created equal, but your bodies are unequal and differentiated. Some people's bodies are naturally clean, such as Brahmins, while the bodies of the lower castes are defiled, dirty, and untouchable. Therefore, the untouchables of the lower castes will naturally be oppressed obediently. Who will make your body unclean? God Brahma will not protect those who have an impure body.

It is very easy to get rid of it. After reincarnation in the next life, you can cast in a good family and become a Brahmin.

Religious regulations also say: People of lower castes 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 Brahma faster and break away from them. sea ​​of ​​bitterness.

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

What a way to manage the masses, a demagoguery.

It is precisely because of this that the pariahs who belong to the same lower caste also look down on each other.

Those who kill chickens look down on those who kill fish, think that they are untouchables, they will be polluted, and they will not be able to live a good life in reincarnation; those who kill fish look down on those who kill sheep, and they also think that they are untouchables and will be polluted, so they must be kept in isolation.

Under such a cognition, the lower caste classes were played with and could not unite at all. They regarded each other as beings like ghosts and snakes, and would rather serve the people of the upper castes wholeheartedly, longing to become such aristocrats in the next life. Without rash contact with each other and being polluted, it is even less possible for them to express their voices to the world and fight against the interest classes that are pressing on them.

It is precisely because of the long-term influence of the dogma taught since childhood and the belief that parents themselves are the same, this cancer of the caste system will always survive in Indian society.

It's sad, isn't it?

Religion was originally a sustenance to comfort the soul, but it has become a toy for the rulers, plaguing countless low-caste families in India.

Lehmann, we are thinking about it, and then give you a clear answer. Luc Besson spoke, he is the company's main business person.

Okay, I'll go back first and wait for your news. Qiang cheered up and showed a proper smile, and the three of Lehman left the conference room.