7.5 Beyond Winning Awards, How Else Can We Talk About Film Festivals? Public Issues Beneath the Headlines

Public Issues Beneath the Headlines | Sisyphus Express: In Depth

Sisyphus Express

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Note: This episode was first published on October 2, 2025.

After Xin Zhilei won in Venice, many declared that Chinese cinema had “stormed back.” Following several relatively distant years, Chinese films appeared frequently in the 2025 lineups of Berlin, Cannes, and Venice.

Moving outward from her award, we examine Chinese actors’ and films’ place at international festivals and the careers of actresses including Yong Mei and Zeng Meihuizi. The same major award returned one person to public attention but did not give another a smoother career. Is an actor’s fate determined by talent, work, opportunity, market, or chance?

From international festivals to fashion brands and magazines, from artistic creation to commercial return, the art world is also a world of fame and profit. Success brings enormous resources, opportunity, and prestige; failure can rapidly sink a person or a work.Yet if we care only about who won and who became famous, we may miss what art truly needs.

For this chapter’s final episode, we return to cinema, art, and what cannot be explained by “success.”Awards deserve celebration, but more important than one victory may be giving more people the chance to be seen and more works the chance to be made.