The annual Sundance came to an end, but the atmosphere in Hollywood suddenly became tense, as if people had entered pre-war security from peaceful times overnight. Fifteen months have passed since the "September 11 Incident", but the aftermath of the incident has not dissipated. Before the cold winter of 2003 had passed, the subsequent impact finally broke out.

On January 27, the day after the end of the Sundance Film Festival, the UNMIS provided a verification report to the Security Council. The report stated that Iraqi officials have provided a lot of new materials and information on the development of missiles and biological weapons in the past four years.

Although there is no evidence that Iraq still holds nuclear weapons, there is still a wave of fierce turmoil in the US political arena. Incumbent President George Bush has a very tough attitude, saying that terrorists must be cracked down on severely. If necessary, the United States will launch military strikes at any cost to curb the threat of terrorists.

For a time, the world was in panic, and even the in full swing awards season could not dispel the tension of everyone in Hollywood, because the possibility of the United States launching a war against Iraq was rising step by step. It seemed that the war was about to break out, and the problems left over from the "September 11 Incident" were further aroused, and the confrontation between radicals and anti-war forces was unfolding in various parts of the United States.

Under such a background, the Sundance Film Festival could not dispel Hollywood's anxiety. Even the Golden Globes were once thought to have been cancelled. However, in a tense atmosphere, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association held the 60th Golden Globes as scheduled, trying to reawaken people's positive and optimistic attitude with joyful singing and dancing. Unfortunately, the attention of the attention of the news media was far from comparable to previous years.

Immediately afterwards, people focused on the American Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, and the attitude of the college obviously represented the mainstream attitude of Hollywood.

As expected, the college unswervingly opposed the war and repeatedly expressed its position of supporting peace.

However, as time goes by, the possibility of war breaking out has not only not diminished, but is also heating up further. The whole of Hollywood is panicked. Under the call of many anti-war figures, many people have publicly stood up and said that the academy should suspend the hosting of this Oscar, not only because the party of singing and dancing to the peace is very inappropriate under such a background, but also because the academy needs to express its firm anti-war stance in this way, play a representative role as a public opinion leader, and truly convey its voice to the White House.

The whole Hollywood was swept in, no one was exceptional, and almost everyone was paying close attention to the progress of the war. Anti-war elements led by Sean Penn and Al Pacino all bravely and boldly stood up to express their views, strongly expressing their hopes to cancel this year's Oscars.

But the United States is not a monolithic, and Hollywood is even more so.

Although the calls for the cancellation of the Oscars remain high, there are only a handful of people who are willing to stand up and support this idea, especially among the candidates who won this year's Oscar nomination, only one documentary director and an animated short film director came forward to say that if the academy insists on hosting the Oscars, they will refuse to attend the award ceremony that night.

This is Hollywood—or, this is the real society, and there is nothing exception to the absolute interests. Major companies have put all their energy into the awards season at the end of the year. If the Oscar is suddenly cancelled, it means that their efforts in the past year are about to fail. This is undoubtedly a huge blow, and even many independent film production companies will suffer a huge blow and are unsustainable.

What's more, in order to maintain peace, to oppose war, and to cater to the current situation, many film crews have already thought of publicity plans, hoping to use people's panic to further stimulate the film market. Just like the lipstick effect under the background of the economic crisis, just like the United States, which made a strong rise in war money during World War I and World War II.

So, no one wants to cancel the Oscar.

However, this has no impact on Chaos Pictures, which has just started. In this torrent, Lance can only be regarded as an unknown person. He cannot affect the entire war pattern, and the impact of the entire social situation on him is very limited. However, Diorama Pictures is different. As the backbone of the current second-tier production company, Ryan cannot survive alone.

The question of whether to attend the Oscars has become a headache for every company. If not, how should we deal with the relationship with the academy and the media? If we attend, what attitude and position should we take? This has become a headache for every company; whether the production plan and schedule of the card will conflict with the war must be considered, and the impact of the potential war on the market has also become a question that every company must think about.

For this reason, Ryan had to spend a lot of energy to attend various events, follow the mainstream Hollywood reactions, and avoid making wrong decisions. In the midst of the changes, Ryan did not have time to pay attention to Lance and the "City of God". After all, the possibility of war breaking out has already cooled down the Sundance jury awards and the attention dropped rapidly, which is enough.

Lance knew clearly that this war was inevitable because it was a game of politicians and a game of US global strategy. Regardless of whether weapons of mass destruction could be discovered in Iraq, this war was imperative. After George Bush took office, the public's approval ratings declined and were in danger, but relying on this war, he showed a tough attitude, won the hearts of the people again, and achieved re-election two years later.

Looking back from a height of more than ten years later, this war was a complete disaster, triggering a series of uncontrollable follow-up reactions. After the European refugee wave in September 2015, the US government was even more criticized by thousands of people. However, if we return to the historical node of 2003, the Iraq War could not be stopped. This is politics and interests.

Faced with such a situation, even Paramount Pictures must be cautious. After returning from Sundance, Paramount held several meetings and finally determined a series of policies, including the preview schedule of "City of God".

If it were in normal times, even if "City of God" won the Sundance Film Festival, Paramount would not pay much attention. After all, this is just an independent film and a foreign language film, which is really not worth the trouble of a large production company; but at this sensitive season, "City of God" seems very special.

"City of God" is a work that has nothing to do with war. Lance wrote the script and directed the film without any hint of war. However, this movie has a unique meaning at this special moment - even if this is not Lance's original intention at all.

The description of the chaos and darkness of the slums in the movie can easily remind people of the disaster after the war, or the long period of recovery and reconstruction after the war; the description of violence and blood in the movie reveals overwhelming despair, which can easily awaken people's inner repulsion and disgust of war and violence; the treatment of several main characters at the end of the movie is also considered as a satirical and opposition to the end of the war; especially the film was filmed by an American crew in Brazil, telling a story that seems to be thousands of miles away but is actually around them, and the allusion is even more distinct.

Therefore, Paramount believes that this work cannot be correct when it is released at this moment, which not only can reiterate Paramount's firm position against the war, but also can resonate with more audiences.

With the right time, place, and people, it seems that "City of God" ushered in an excellent release overnight.

After discussion, Paramount Pictures arranged the preview schedule for the movie on Friday, February 21st, the third week of February. "City of God" will be the first to hold previews in seven art theaters in Los Angeles and New York. The subsequent expansion pace has not yet been decided and will be adjusted according to the premiere market response of the movie.

From the end of Sundance to the preview of "City of God", there was only one month apart, and it could be said that it was a hot iron. Although the awards season at the end of the year was far away and it was easily forgotten by people when the end of the year arrived, after comprehensive consideration, this time was obviously the perfect fit for "time". Paramount made a quick decision and made a decision.

After the release of "City of God" was scheduled, the first wave of publicity began quietly. On January 31, Javier's blog was the first to publish a video with the title saying, "The real reaction of real audiences - from Sundance Film Festival."

The video content shows the audience's reaction when watching "City of God". The editing style unexpectedly adopts documentary style, recording everything realistically and simply. From it, people's expressions can clearly see the surprise, panic, deep thought, confusion and despair. The feeling of empathy and immersive reality aroused heated discussion.

The real voices of many viewers participating in the Sundance Film Festival spontaneously appeared on the Internet. They all said that only after watching this movie can you feel that reality, as if you are putting yourself in the slums of the City of God, and truly feel the enthusiasm, restlessness, anxiety, fear and despair of that land.

Unlike the hot discussions during Sundance, this time the discussion is more real and profound. Everyone is expressing their views and opinions on "City of God". Combined with the recent anti-war wave, it has quietly aroused more and more curiosity and expectations.

On Monday, February 3, "City of God" released the first promotional poster of the film in a low-key manner.

Above the poster, a child who looked only seven or eight years old, holding a pistol in his right hand, looked down at the audience in front of the poster, pulled the trigger, and then laughed happily, revealing his white teeth, and a excited light flashed in his eyes.
Chapter completed!