Now that China is open, the Cannes red carpet business swung into motion with a mess of Chinese stars, influencers and total unknowns flooding the festival’s famed promenade.

Those that aren’t widely known are mostly red carpet lovers somewhat than film fans. Before the pandemic, there was already a healthy business model servicing Chinese influencers who wish to meander down the carpet like stars.

They’re all dressed and made up, going to varied premieres, then being ushered off the carpet by security for blocking real celebrities. At home, their very own social media is flooded with elegant poses and descriptions of how they spent the night amongst stars.

For many who show up on the red carpet with the only real purpose of being seen, there’s a special Chinese verb: “ceng.” And the budget for “ceng” on the Cannes red carpet has actually grown.

This 12 months is the primary post-pandemic comeback and business has been good.

A ticket to the opening/closing nights is priced between 7,000 euros and 10,000 euros, including the limo ride. And there are other Chinese professionals camped out at Cannes able to serve. An edited three-minute video is 2,000 euros to three,000 euros, and around 300 euros to 500 euros will buy one a set of 4 photos on the red carpet.

There are five-day show-off packages available on the market, which often include a ticket, photo and video clips. These go from 250,000 renminbi to 400,000 renminbi, or $35,000 to $56,500. These packages are for “ceng” regulars, who book way prematurely. Makeup and styling, including a borrowed dress, are also included within the package. 

A more elegant approach to get on the red carpet is to be sponsored by a brand or a media company.

Jia Nailiang, a former Chinese actor who turned to livestream shopping after a lackluster profession as an actor, was on the Cannes red carpet. He’s now among the many top sellers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with a high every day turnover within the thousands and thousands. Nailiang had a somewhat blank gaze; nobody knew who he was. As he walked down the red carpet waving, the paparazzi took a break to rest their arms.

But Jia was quite busy in Cannes — other than trodding the red carpet, he was also streaming. Someone like Jia was most certainly invited by a brand to return to Cannes and the corporate provided the possibility to walk the red carpet.

Media outlets resembling Figaro China also emulated Vanity Fair and W magazine by hosting their very own parties at Cannes. The fee of the party was probably worthwhile as brands are searching for celebrities to assist push their product within the Chinese market. A onetime sponsorship is a very good approach to start a relationship.

Considered one of the highlights of Cannes this 12 months was Fan Bing Bing’s return to the general public eye in China. Social media loved her quite a few extravagant, shoulder-baring outfits. There was speculation that she had greater than 20 pieces of bags for Cannes.

The proven fact that she was trending at Cannes means the top of her ban. The banning of a star in China has different degrees, so Fan will need to have excellent backing to make a comeback. Only a 12 months ago she was not even allowed to sell her own line of cosmetics in direct streaming shops.

She was invited to each party in addition to the opening night. The comeback was total. But Fan was never totally banned — her work as an actress remained available during it. This is a sign that at some point she might be back. Other banned actors were punished with a complete blackout of their presence on the Chinese web, in addition to all their presence in film, television and online streaming.

The 2 Chinese movies in “Un Certain Regard” as a part of the competition on the festival also received some attention in China. Each movies star A-list Chinese actors.

Chinese producers are very tight-lipped concerning the film before its official release in China. As one producer told me: “Loose lips sink ships. We don’t want any mistaken message on the web which may get the film banned.”

There was literally not a single word about Wang Bin’s film “Youth: Spring.” It was the one film by a Chinese filmmaker within the major competition. Wang is a documentary filmmaker of international renown. His movies are narratives of the every day lifetime of a mean Chinese person. Plenty of grime and hard words; not much glamour. None of his movies have been released in China.

So far as the people in Wang’s movies are concerned, the Cannes Film Festival is just the red carpet. The proven fact that it’s the festival that made Chinese movies known internationally is completely lost on the present generation of filmgoers in China.

So it’s likely that, because the ideological divide widens between China and the West, the Cannes Film Festival, for the Chinese, is prone to remain only concerning the carpet in the meanwhile.

Editor’s note: China File is a recurring column by Hung Huang offering observations of trends in China.