Chapter 147: The Whole World Has Its Eyes on You!

At the Cannes International Film Festival awards ceremony, Zhou Ran finally understood what it meant to have the eyes of the world truly fixed upon you.

Just as Zhou Ran was about to reach the end of the red carpet, a sudden wave of screaming erupted behind him. The entire venue was engulfed by the sound, as if some earth-shattering event had occurred. Zhou Ran looked back and realized that a male star had just arrived at the start of the red carpet, triggering a frenzy among the media and fans present.

Seeing the man, Zhou Ran was completely bewildered. Since his rebirth, he had focused his energy on learning about domestic film and television figures, paying little attention to those abroad unless they had achieved global fame. After all, everyone has their specialty; Zhou Ran’s primary field was music, so he was not particularly well-versed in the film industry, recognizing only a few names he had heard in passing.

"That’s Reeves, an actor from the United States," Chef Huang whispered, noticing Zhou Ran’s confusion and offering a quick explanation. "He’s quite famous in the circle. He won numerous international awards right after his debut and quickly amassed a huge fan base. His status is somewhat similar to yours back home. Oh, and he was the Best Newcomer at the last Cannes International Film Festival. Quite an impressive guy!"

"I see! That makes sense," Zhou Ran replied. After hearing Chef Huang’s words, he gained a rough understanding. He looked up, watching as Reeves was warmly welcomed by the media and fans lining the red carpet, and gave a silent nod. He was indeed incredibly popular. Zhou Ran silently set a new goal for himself: to be just like Reeves, receiving such acclaim even abroad, rather than being recognized only by people back home. Regardless of whether he could achieve it, having a goal was essential. A person cannot just run wild like an unbridled horse without direction; otherwise, time would be wasted, and all his efforts would be in vain.

After the red carpet ceremony, the focus shifted to the main event of the Cannes International Film Festival: the presentation of the awards for the main competition section. The winners of these honors were the primary targets for the gathered media.

The awards ceremony was held in a massive hall at the festival, capable of accommodating over a thousand people. The seating arrangement for the main competition ceremony mirrored the red carpet: those with fame sat at the front, while those without sat toward the back. As for those who had paid to buy tickets, they were relegated to the very outer edges, their comfort entirely disregarded. After all, they had already capitalized on the red carpet for exposure, and the organizers had no further need to consider them. Some ticket-buyers didn't even bother entering the hall; they simply snapped a few photos and left, rushing to draft their press releases to capitalize on the festival's buzz as quickly as possible.

While waiting for their turn, Zhou Ran, Chef Huang, and their group sat in their assigned seats, idly playing with their phones, watching the awards being presented on stage, or acting as "props" by applauding. Zhou Ran even noticed Zhang Xiaofeng nearly nodding off; if not for his nudge, she likely would have fallen asleep from boredom.

Their seating was rather awkward—stuck in the middle, surrounded by people they didn't know. No one came over to greet them. Although some big names they recognized were seated in the front row, they couldn't approach them, as those stars were strangers to them, merely icons they admired from afar.

To Zhou Ran, this was standard practice. The organizers arranged seating based on international influence, just like the red carpet. Those with higher fame sat in the front to enjoy the show, while the minor players were left to watch from the back, much like the seating arrangements at corporate annual meetings. This led to a somewhat awkward situation: the big shots in the front chatted happily, while the "small fry" in the back stared at each other in silence. Since they were all considered minor figures, their lack of fame made it unlikely that they would know the people around them. Unless they were from the same country or had collaborated previously, there was no one to talk to. Zhou Ran’s group, unfortunately, knew no one nearby, save for a few faces Chef Huang had glimpsed at other festivals—at most a passing acquaintance, hardly enough to strike up a conversation.

This highlighted the importance of international recognition. Once you have fame, people will flock to you for all sorts of reasons. However, while international recognition sounds simple, achieving it is incredibly difficult. Looking back at his previous life, only a handful of people had achieved such stature, and most were stars in their sixties or older; there was almost no one in the younger generation with international appeal.

Gaining international influence in the film industry is exceptionally hard, as the power lies primarily in the hands of Hollywood. You are only truly influential when they say you are. This is why so many actors strive to break into the American market, and why the Oscars remain the brightest jewel in the industry, with countless filmmakers treating an Oscar win as their life’s ambition.

Compared to film, it is somewhat easier to gain influence in the music industry because the production costs are lower and distribution is easier. One simply needs to create several classic songs in English to spread them far and wide. It is at least twice as easy as gaining international appeal in film. This was Zhou Ran’s current plan: to use film as a supplement while making music his primary focus, developing both simultaneously.