Chapter 42 Winning the Award, Ending

On the podium, awards were announced one after another.

Cheers broke out from the audience from time to time, which made Liu Zhou feel more and more nervous.

Although Jia Zhangke looked calm and composed, Liu Zhou still saw a hint of expectation in his eyes.

At this time, a guy on the stage read out:

"The award that will be presented next is the latest one set up by the Berlin Film Festival - the Youth Forum Award, named after German director Wolfgang Stoddard. The film industry is booming all over the world now...

The movie that won the award is The Thief! "

Before Liu Zhou and Jia Zhangke could react to what was said, Yu Liwei beside them suddenly jumped up from his chair in excitement.

Then he grabbed Jia Zhangke's shoulders and shook them vigorously, his voice trembling with excitement:

"It's us! We won the prize!"

"Is it really us?" Jia Zhangke was a little bit unbelievable.

At this time Liu Zhou also reacted. The original name of "Xiao Wu" was written in pinyin, but it was translated into English by the organizing committee and became thief. Isn't thief The Thief?
"It's us! Don't sit there, go up and receive the award!" Liu Zhou pulled him up and said.

It seems that the effect of this butterfly of his is not that great. It's a pity that Liu Zhou felt very guilty about him before.

Jia Zhangke walked towards the podium from the corner a little unsteadily. Liu and Zhou were worried that he might fall suddenly. It seemed that he was also very excited.

After receiving the trophy from the presenter, Jia Zhangke took a deep breath and paused for two seconds before speaking in English:
"Thank you! Thank you to the organizing committee! Thank you to the jury! Thank you everyone! Thank you Liu Zhou! Thank you to the brothers who accompanied me to realize this dream! Thank you!

This is really an exciting moment. Although the movie "Xiao Wu" is very rough, its birth was very difficult and it embodies the hard work of more than a dozen of us.

I am very happy to win the award, thank you all!"

Liu Zhou and Yu Liwei in the audience also had smiles on their faces at this time, and their moods gradually calmed down.

"Hey, Brother Yu, doesn't Senior Brother know English?"

"He must have secretly memorized it in advance."

"Oh my god, he's quite well prepared. Does that mean he was just pretending to be calm before?"

"probably."

"Definitely is!"

Jia Zhangke stumbled over his acceptance speech and then staggered back to his seat.

Before he could sit down, the trophy was snatched away by Yu Liwei.

Liu Zhou watched him hold the trophy in his arms and rub it for a long time, with a very pious look on his face, just like he was touching the God of Wealth during the New Year.

"Brother Yu, it's OK, let me see."

"Give!"

Liu Zhou was holding the trophy. It was not big and it was a little warm from being held by Yu Liwei.

But it is this little thing that they have been looking forward to, which proves that all the previous hard work has not been in vain.

Jia Zhangke just stood there giggling, completely dazed by this pie that fell from the sky.

As I was laughing, I felt my eyes a little sore, my nose twitched, and I lowered my head and rubbed my eyes secretly.

Liu Zhou also noticed Jia Zhangke's expression and knew that he had put a lot of effort into this movie.

Liu Zhou didn't say much, just handed him the trophy and patted him on the shoulder.

Seeing this, Yu Liwei also patted Jia Zhangke on the shoulder.

The three of them focused on the trophy, not caring about the stage of the award ceremony. But it seemed that God wanted to give enough surprises. Before Jia Zhangke could calm down, the rostrum said:

"The film that won the Asian Film Promotion Alliance Award at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival is "The Thief"!"

This time all three of them understood, and the audience was a little noisy. It was amazing that an unknown independent film could win two trophies.

This time, Jia Zhangke was much calmer when he went on stage. He just got stuck when he was giving his acceptance speech. After all, one cannot say the same lines twice. In the end, he was so anxious that he simply spoke in Chinese.

After Jia Zhangke came down, he was no longer sentimental, but only happy.

The three of them no longer had any extravagant hopes for the awards that followed. They happily watched the award recipients who came up on stage one by one and gave them warm applause.

Things turned out just as the three had expected, and "Xiao Wu" did not win any of the next few awards.

After some miscellaneous awards were presented, the audience was tacitly silent for a few seconds, as everyone knew that the next few awards would be the highlight.

The Best Actor award went to Samuel L. Jackson for "Dangerous Liaisons", a man that everyone should be familiar with. The Best Actress award went to Fernanda Montenegro for "Central Station", a national treasure actress of Brazil.

The Best Director award was given to Neil Jordan, the director of "Butcher Boy".

The second most important Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Wag the Dog.

There was applause from the audience, accompanied by a lot of boos, which clearly showed their dissatisfaction with the fact that this excellent film did not win the Golden Bear.

When it was screened, this film was a hot favorite for this year's Golden Bear.

Liu Zhou also watched this movie and felt it was very sharp. It not only mocked the politicians in the United States, but also mocked the entire Hollywood.

It is said that the director only took twenty-nine days to shoot this film.

For foreigners who take their time to do a job, this time is indeed too short.

As expected, the Golden Bear Award was awarded to "Central Station".

This Brazilian film also became the biggest winner of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

Finally, there was a Lifetime Achievement Award given to Mr. Alain Resnais.

The 48th Berlin Film Festival has come to an end.

Although there were several Chinese-language films participating in this year's Berlin International Film Festival, only two won awards.

In addition to Jia Zhangke's "Xiao Wu" winning two awards, Guan Jingpeng's "The Happier the More Degenerate" also won two consolation prizes.

One of the names is still very strange, it is called the Alfred Award, and the other is even stranger, it is called the Teddy Bear Award.

It is said that this is a special award for gay films...

Director Guan is particularly good at this type of subject matter, and later he helped Liu Zhou's good friend Liu Ye win the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor.

Chen Chong's "The Bathing" was a complete failure.

For other people, the film festival is over and they can breathe a sigh of relief, but for Liu Zhou and others, there is still one very important thing, which is to sell the film.

This film cannot be released in China and can only make a profit through overseas copyright.

Generally speaking, a movie that wins an award at a film festival rarely goes unnoticed.

But "Xiao Wu" was not shortlisted for the main competition unit and only won two small awards. I don't know what price it can be sold for.

Leaving the venue and walking towards the door, Liu Zhou suddenly became a little worried.

As soon as they reached the door, before Liu Zhou could react, a group of reporters swarmed in and surrounded the three of them.

(End of this chapter)