Huayu is here for you

Chapter 78 Unexpected

He had always approached the negotiations with the expectation of winning awards, given that the film had garnered numerous accolades in his previous life. However, Lin Yu now regretted his decision. Had he known this would happen, he would have preferred to sell the entire film outright and return home sooner.

Moreover, the jury president for the main competition this year is Catherine Deneuve, a French actress.

The other members of the judging panel included people from South Korea, Spain, Italy, and other countries, but none from China. Compared to the fact that there were two Chinese participants in Berlin this year, Lin Yu felt a little uncertain.

After the screening of Pavor Rogin's "Ostrov," which served as the closing film, Lin Yu was somewhat disheartened and prepared to have a serious talk with the North American and European film distributors who had contacted him a few days earlier. He figured he could sell it to them at a lower price, since the film had already made its money.

Just as he took out his phone, Huang Bo burst into Lin Yu's room.

"Boss! We've been notified! The organizers sent someone to tell us to attend the awards ceremony!" Huang Bo excitedly shouted to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu's heart, which had been dormant, was rekindled by Huang Bo's words.

His first thought wasn't about what prize he might win tomorrow, but rather: why bother making a phone call? He should just wait for them to call.

"Hehe...at least the clothes weren't a waste of time!" Lin Yu replied quietly.

Huang Bo: ? ? ?

Before the awards ceremony began, Lin Yu, who had already composed himself, arrived at the venue half an hour early with Huang Bo, who was also dressed formally.

Looking at the dense crowd of reporters and the red carpet surrounded by "stars," Huang Bo was clearly excited. Lin Yu... to be honest, he was a little excited too, after all, this was his first time walking the red carpet at an international film festival.

However, Lin Yu wouldn't deliberately try to attract attention; his pace on the red carpet was neither too fast nor too slow, remaining quite steady. After all, he wasn't like Fan Bingbing, who became famous solely through red carpet appearances.

Lin Yu had no particular interest in the Golden Lion Award or the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, as he knew those two awards wouldn't be his. However, he could still look forward to the Best Actor Volpi Cup, Best Screenplay Award, and Best Director Award.

Upon entering the site, Lin Yu met Section Chief Jia and Du Qifeng, who had arrived earlier.

"Director Lin! You're so talented at such a young age. Not only can you make high-grossing movies, but you can also make art films like this. You're truly a young hero."

"Director Jia is overestimating me; it was just luck."

"Director Lin! Do you think you could bring a lion home?"

"Director Du, you're joking. I'm just here to join in the fun."

"Director Lin..."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the two, Lin Yu and Huang Bo sat down in the seats arranged by the organizers, waiting for the awards ceremony to begin.

The award for Best Technical Contribution to Cinematography goes to… *Children of Men*.

Best Screenplay Award… Pedro Almodóvar’s “Volver”.

As the awards were presented, Lin Yu could clearly feel Huang Bo beside him becoming increasingly nervous, even his breathing became more rapid.

Lin Yu wasn't as concerned as Huang Bo. Although he also had his eye on a few of the awards, he didn't feel as anxious as Huang Bo.

The Best Actor award goes to… Huang Bo! — *Bury Alive*

Hearing the somewhat broken Chinese name read out on stage, Huang Bo suddenly felt as if the whole world was about to stand still, and he was completely dazed.

He only came to his senses when Lin Yu, who was standing next to him, got up and hugged him.

"Boss! I..."

"Alright, I know what you want to say, but this is what you deserve, Brother Bo. Go and embrace your glory!" Lin Yu patted Huang Bo on the back and said.

After Lin Yu's encouragement, Huang Bo, feeling quite spirited, walked onto the podium amidst applause and accepted the Volpi Cup, a symbol of international film stardom.

"Thank you, thank you everyone, thank you to the judges, thank you for the Golden Lion Award... Thank you. Here, I want to sincerely thank one person, my boss, who is also the director of the film 'Buried Alive'—Lin Yu! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to stand on the world stage of film, really..."

Lin Yu listened to Huang Bo's words, which were mostly expressions of gratitude, and felt a little amused and exasperated.

Lin Yu originally thought that he had a good chance of winning the Best Screenplay and Best Director awards, after all, the film "Buried" fully met the Golden Lion Award's principles in terms of creativity and innovation.

Unexpectedly, this actually made Huang Bo a movie star! I wonder if it was because the actor who won the movie star award in his previous life didn't do a good job with public relations, since that guy recently made a mistake, although it's a mistake that most men would make.

However, it would be impossible for Lin Yu not to feel a little disappointed, but Huang Bo was, after all, one of his soldiers, so Lin Yu was still mostly happy.

The events that followed the awards ceremony unfolded much as Lin Yu had anticipated, having nothing to do with him. Director Jia Zhangke's "Still Life" won the Golden Lion for Best Film; French director Alain Resnais won the Silver Lion for Best Director for "The Secret"; and British actress Helen Mirren won the Best Actress award for "The Queen".

The news of Lin Yu attending the Venice Golden Lion Awards has garnered significant attention in China, with major online and print media outlets eagerly awaiting updates. Of course, it's not just Lin Yu who's in the spotlight; several directors have gone to Venice, and it's necessary to send people to follow them all.

After all, it would be a bit unreasonable for reporters not to pay attention to the most important film and television festivals of the year.

There's no hope for the Oscars anymore. After all, in China, only Li An has managed to make a name for herself at the Oscars. Directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige have already failed miserably there.

However, Chinese directors still have a pretty good chance of winning awards at the three major European competitions, especially Berlin and Venice.

However, the focus is still on Venice, because there are several Chinese films nominated for the main competition, unlike Cannes and Berlin, where the nominated films are mostly peripheral ones. Moreover, this year's Cannes and Berlin were a bit unfriendly to Chinese directors, as they didn't give out any major awards.

Only Zhang Yimou won the inaugural Luis Buñuel Award at Cannes, which carries some weight. Several other Chinese directors also won awards in the Focus section.

Berlin, on the other hand, was a dismal affair. Only one composer from Hong Kong, Kim Pui-tat, won the Silver Bear for Best Film Music for "Isabella"; and another, Zhang Yuan's "Little Red Flowers," won the Panorama Award for Outstanding Film Artistic Innovation.

Reporters said: We still have to see Venice this year!