Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 581

“There are a lot of submissions this year.”

The short film submission period for the Korean Independent Film Festival had ended, and the feature film submission period had begun. The number of works that poured in was more than expected.

“It’s because of Working Man. It got a lot of publicity. Anyone who had something to submit would have done it.”

“They’re still releasing promotional articles, right? The geniuses from Korea National University of Arts.”

“That’s the most effective way. The reporters are also writing diligently because the views are good.”

The staff who were checking the submission documents were busy.

“Did those students submit their work?”

“Yes, they did. It came in about two hours after the submission started.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried what would happen if they didn’t submit.”

“Right. They did all the publicity, but if they didn’t submit, it would have been a disaster.”

They all nodded.

“I heard the judges are watching their work right now.”

“Well, it’s the center of the publicity. They need to know how good it is to use it for promotion or not.”

“If the movie is good, they’ll give it an award too.”

“If they get an award, it’ll be like a real movie.”

“I’m more worried about the backlash.”

“That’s possible too.”

The chatter of the reception team continued, while the judges and the staff of the Korean Independent Film Festival who were watching the movie [Fire] made by the geniuses of Korea National University of Arts had their mouths wide open.

“…!!..”

The youngest head of the publicity team covered his mouth with his hand, as if he was about to swear. It was a vulgar gesture, but no one cared. They all felt the same way. ṝäɴƟᛒЕȘ

There was no one who wouldn’t be surprised by this.

Before they knew it, the movie ended and the ending scroll went up.

Among the unfamiliar names, there was a name that was old but still familiar if they thought deeply. It was a confirmation kill.

The conference room without the lights on.

Silence flowed.

“…What do we do with this?”

The chairman of the Independent Film Association opened his mouth in response to that question.

“First of all,”

His head spun quickly.

Depending on how they used it, the evaluation of this independent film festival would change.

“Let’s have a meeting.”

***

[The movie made by the geniuses of KNUA, selected as the opening film of the Korean Independent Film Festival!]

[Korean Independent Film Festival, extended from 7 days to 10 days!]

[Independent Film Association, doubled the number of participating theaters for this film festival!]

Time passed and it was mid-April.

The first day of the Korean Independent Film Festival, which would last for 10 days, dawned.

A man attached a camera to a selfie stick and stepped into the crowd of people.

“Wow… I’ve been attending this film festival every year, but I think this is the first time there are so many people. I guess that’s why the organizers extended the period and the number of theaters.”

Some people who looked at the man who was talking to himself as if he was talking to someone else widened their eyes and opened their mouths when they recognized his face.

“Right?”

“Yeah. Right.”

Some of them quickly turned on YouTube. A man who looked exactly like the man who was filming in front of them appeared on the phone screen. Next to him, comments were popping up.

-Moviegoer is pretty famous too. I’m here at the scene and everyone noticed him lol

-22 He has more subscribers than most celebrities.

-It’s all thanks to Lee Seo-jun. All the videos with high views are Lee Seo-jun’s works lol

“Yes, that’s right. If you line up my review videos by views, you can think of it as Lee Seo-jun’s filmography. I don’t know how I would have made a living without Lee Seo-jun… It makes me dizzy.”

-lololol

-Your other reviews are fun too lol

/“Thank you very much to those of you who are watching from abroad. This live video will be edited and uploaded later with subtitles.”/

Moviegoer said in fluent English.

-But do foreigners care about our independent film festival?

-Yeah. It’s not like Sundance, which is a famous independent film festival.

-What is Sundance?

“Sundance is the most famous independent film festival in the world. It’s held in Utah, USA. There are many famous directors and actors who came out of Sundance. By the way, Sundance started in 1985, but the Korean Independent Film Festival started in 1976.”

-Wow. We were faster?

-There were independent film festivals before that. Sundance just did well and succeeded.

“Yes. That’s right. Sundance became known as a global independent film festival when a movie they discovered won an award at Cannes.”

The viewers wrote ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ in the comments as they heard the name of the master from Moviegoer’s mouth, and the people who were listening with earphones at the scene nodded their heads as if they were listening to a docent’s story about a relic at a museum.

-lol It feels like I’m at a museum lol

-I’m listening with earphones too lol

“Yes. This is my first time experiencing this too. I think there are a lot of ordinary people here. There must be many of you who are watching this live for the first time and are interested in the independent film festival, so I’ll take a look around slowly as if it’s my first time.”

-It’s probably because of Working Man.

-222 There are a lot of promotional articles these days.

“I saw it too. Working Man. I thought I was watching a movie with the directing. Oh, did I tell you about the opening film?”

-nnnnno

-But we know.

-22 They released so many articles lol

“Yes. That’s right. They didn’t introduce the movie, though.”

Moviegoer held up a pamphlet and the people around him also opened their pamphlets.

-Is this a flash mob lol

-It looks so fun lolol

-Are you a teacher? Teacher lol

-???: Turn to page 156, and today is April 3rd, so. Let’s read number 12.

-lololol

Moviegoer, the people around him, and the viewers burst into laughter.

“Then let’s take a look at the pamphlet first. It briefly explains the film festival. There are events where they give out souvenirs, and events where you can meet the actors or directors. If you’re interested, please participate a lot.”

Moviegoer turned the pamphlet and the others’ pamphlets also turned.

“What’s the opening and closing film? There’s a brief explanation of both. Both works are recommended by the judges, and they will be screened six times during the film festival. Usually it’s two or three times, but maybe because the theaters doubled, they increased a lot. If you don’t know which movie to watch, it’s okay to watch the opening and closing films. Shall we move on?”

-Where are you going?

“I’m going to watch the opening ceremony. Oh, the opening ceremony tickets are already sold out, so if you don’t have a ticket, you’ll have to watch another movie.”

The people who were trying to follow Moviegoer stopped their movements at that remark.

-Ah. I almost followed the teacher;;;

-They’re all like that, lol.

-I was packing my stuff too, because I’m moving to the next work, lol. No tickets for the opening ceremony, lol.

-???: I’m moving on to the next work.

-Is he really a docent, lol?

Ha ha, Moviegoer moved on. Eyes full of regret followed him, then quickly shifted to the phone screen. Moviegoer on the phone screen said.

“Today’s opening ceremony is held at Apgujeong CCV, and the opening film will be screened right after the ceremony. It’s the work of the students from Korea National University of Arts who starred in Working Man.”

-Did they put it as the opening film because of the promotion?

-Maybe they put it because the work is good?

-Well, it’s not the best, but it’s not bad either.

“I’m looking forward to it a little bit. Korea National University of Arts. It’s the best art university in our country. That’s why I’m planning to watch the works of other Korea National University of Arts students later.” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

-I’m going tomorrow, can you recommend me some movies?

“First of all, the screening works are all good. Out of 1,632 short films and 223 feature films submitted, the judges selected 128 works.”

-Of course, independent films can be divisive.

-They really are. Watch the movie introduction carefully before you go.

-Even if you watch the movie introduction, there are twists and you don’t know what it’s about.

Moviegoer nodded with a smile.

“Yes. That’s right. For example, Survivors Director’s Cut. No one expected the ending to be like that, just by looking at the movie introduction.”

-I really couldn’t imagine it.

-Wow… It feels like I have PTSD.

“But it will be fun. The charm of independent films is that they contain the director’s thoughts.”

-What’s the plot of the opening film?

“The title is Fire. The poster looks like this.”

Moviegoer showed the poster to the viewers.

A picture of a Western-style two-story mansion made of red bricks with a tightly closed door. The background was white as if it had snowed. And in the lower right corner, there was a brushstroke that said [Fire].

-Is the screen… fire?

-There’s a picture too. There are flowers too.

-Is it anger?

-Or maybe the character’s name is Fire.

-Anyway, the poster looks good. The visuals will be good.

“The movie introduction is simple. It’s the story of Min-han, a farmer in a mountain valley, who takes care of an unknown painter who came to recuperate in Hanyang.”

-If it’s Hanyang, it must be an old story.

-Looking at the Western-style mansion, after the opening of the port?

-The painter was a picture.

-It looks like it will flow calmly by the introduction.

-The farmer learns painting from the painter and becomes a genius painter.

-22 Already made a movie.

“I’ll give you a short review right after the movie. Now let’s go in. Oh, I already got permission to film the opening ceremony.”

-Block the aggro.

-lol

Moviegoer entered the screening room where the opening ceremony was held.

He filmed so that the faces of the people would not show up as much as possible. For the first time, he turned the camera to the people. Of course, it was not the general seats, but the invitation seats where the actors, directors, and other movie-related people were.

“There are a lot of people here. I’ll introduce you one by one. That’s…”

Moviegoer showed the faces of the actors and directors, writers, etc. and explained their works or careers. The actors who noticed that they were being filmed greeted them with a good sense of humor.

“Oh. It’s actor Kim Jong-ho. I don’t need to explain, right? He’s the actor who participated in the Academy Awards! And there are some people coming in with him. Actor Lee Ji-seok, who starred in the movie ONE with Kim Jong-ho, actor Park Do-hoon, who brilliantly played the villain character in this movie, and actor Lee Da-jin, who is active in dramas. It’s the Lee Seo-jun squad!”

The four actors who entered the opening ceremony hall smiled and bowed to the audience who were filming them. A short cheer went up.

-But Lee Seo-jun is not here.

-Is he coming soon?

“That’s right. Let’s wait a little bit.”

But contrary to the expectations of Moviegoer and the viewers, Lee Seo-jun did not show up until the opening ceremony began. The sprouts and people who came to the live broadcast after hearing the news were disappointed.

-I guess he’s not coming.

-Well, he can’t always be together.

-Lee Seo-jun squad without Lee Seo-jun, lol.

[We will start the opening ceremony of the Korean Independent Film Festival now.]

The announcement came on, and Moviegoer fixed the camera to the stage.

The Korean Independent Film Festival officials appeared on the stage.

Actors and directors who had been interested in independent films for a long time, the chairman of the Independent Film Association, etc. came out and declared the opening, introduced the award categories that will be at the closing ceremony, and talked briefly about the future of independent films and went down quickly.

The people who had seen the Korean Independent Film Festival for a long time tilted their heads at the sight of the people going down with excited steps.

-?? Is it usually over so quickly?

-No, I saw it last year and it was four times longer.

-22 Did someone suggest to make it shorter?

-I don’t know who it is, but they did well.

-lol

-But they really seem to like independent films. They all have smiles on their faces.

-22 Like they won the lottery.

Moviegoer thought the same.

The expressions of the officials were better than usual. With the lively atmosphere and the fast progress, he suddenly thought that they wanted to show the opening film as soon as possible.

‘Is it such a good work?’

The expectations rose.

-Oh. The KNUA students are coming up!

Director Hwang Ji-yoon and actors Hwang Do-yoon, Kim Sung-sik, and Jung Eun-mi, who directed the opening film [Fire], came up on the stage. People applauded and cheered for the KNUA students.

-Is that actor the main character?

-Who is the painter?

“Hello. I’m Hwang Ji-yoon, the director of the movie Fire.”

Director Hwang Ji-yoon, who grabbed the microphone, opened her mouth. Joy and gratitude were visible on her excited face and sparkling eyes.

“Every movie director has a work that they have dreamed of for a long time.”

Hwang Ji-yoon said with a smile.

“I’m the same. The movie I’m going to show you, Fire, is a work that I’ve been thinking of since I was in middle school. Some directors postpone filming until the work is perfect, but I like to eat the delicious things first, so I wanted to start my first feature film with this work.”

People listened carefully.

“But I wanted to make the best work possible within my limits, and a lot of people helped me. Especially the actors helped me a lot. Both the ones who are here and the ones who are not.”

She must be talking about the extras.

Unlike the people who thought so, the Lee Seo-jun squad and the organizers knew who she was talking about and smiled.

“And with the actors, the filming team, the props team, the sound team, the lighting team, and the music team members who worked hard, I would like to thank you again on this occasion.”

There was a clap sound from one side.

It was the [Fire] team.

“It’s a work that good people gathered and made together. I may lack some skills, but I did my best. I hope it will be a work that stays in your hearts for a long time.”

Director Hwang Ji-yoon and the actors bowed. Clap clap clap applause sounded.

[We will now watch the opening film, Fire.]

The people on the stage went down and the things that were up there were cleared away. It was time to watch the opening film.

In the midst of the bustle, Moviegoer looked at the camera.

“Then I’ll give you a short review as soon as the movie is over.”

-Yes!

-Come back soon!

-I’ll decide whether to watch it or not after listening to the review.

-22

-I have to buy it in advance. It must be worth watching if it’s the opening film.

-You mean the opening work?

-ㅇ The mystery of the word that changes with one letter, lol.

Soon the screening room darkened. Moviegoer turned off the camera and looked at the screen.

The light shone on the screen.

The movie [Fire] that made Korea very excited began.