director of the millennium

On February 2th, the weather in Berlin was clear and cloudless.

By 2 p.m., a large crowd of people had already gathered outside the Berlin Film Palace, many of them journalists carrying cameras and other filming equipment.

These people gathered outside the Berlin Film Palace this afternoon to attend the Berlin premiere of the Chinese film "Cai Wenji" which came from afar!

Let me tell you a little-known fact.

Many people may not know that among the three major European film festivals, the Cannes Film Festival is currently the most popular and has the most reprinted news and media reports.

But in fact, the Berlin Film Festival is the three major film festivals in Europe that attracts the most visitors every year.

Compared to Cannes, which is closed to the public, and Venice, which is isolated by the sea, the Berlin Film Festival is truly lively.

Every year, about 15000 professionals participate in the Berlin Film Festival, including 76 journalists from 3500 different countries around the world. The number of spectators who come to participate is more than to hundreds of thousands, which is countless!

The 69th Berlin Film Festival will be held in 22 local venues in Berlin, with more than 50 films premiering at the same time in one day!

Of course, the movies that are able to premiere at the Film Palace are undoubtedly the most watched.

Although the Film Palace is not the cinema in Berlin that can accommodate the largest number of spectators, and even ranks only third in terms of the number of spectators it can accommodate, its status is undoubtedly the highest.

For example, Wang Quanan's "Dinosaur Egg" did not have the opportunity to premiere at the Berlin Film Palace.

After all, during the entire Film Week, the Berlin Film Palace can only premiere 10 films, one per day, and there are as many as 17 films shortlisted for the main competition unit alone, not including the opening and closing films, leaving even fewer opportunities for the films in the main competition unit to premiere.

Of course, no matter how fierce the competition for this opportunity is, Zhang Yimou will definitely be qualified to premiere at the Film Palace, and it will be scheduled in the second half of the film week. It is one of the most valued films at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

The organizing committee attaches great importance to it, and the media and film critics who come to watch the competition at this year's Berlin Film Festival will naturally also attach great importance to it.

At least 1627 people gathered outside the Berlin Film Palace, which has 3000 seats. Half of them did not get tickets for today's premiere of "Cai Wenji", but they still held their cameras and captured the guests who attended the premiere of "Cai Wenji".

At this time, the main creators of the "Cai Wenji" crew were also at the entrance of the Film Palace, entertaining the guests who were specially invited to watch the movie.

Mainly the film crews of other films shortlisted for the main competition unit, as well as some influential film critics, program representatives, and most importantly, film producers and distributors from all over the world.

Fortunately, Wu Yuan did not need to do such social activities, after all, he was not the main creator of the "Cai Wenji" crew.

At this time, he was sitting leisurely in the second row of seats in the Film Palace, quietly waiting for the premiere to officially begin.

In the dim screening room, even though most of the audience members who had already entered were industry insiders who were very knowledgeable about world cinema and basically knew Wu Yuan, no one noticed that the Asian man sitting low-key in the second row was actually the internationally renowned director Daniel Wu!

Until the Film Palace was full of people and all 1600 seats were occupied, Zhang Yimou led the main creators of the crew to the front of the stage.

The Berlin premiere of "Cai Wenji" officially begins!
"Thank you. I didn't expect so many people would come to watch the premiere of our "Cai Wenji." Holding the microphone and standing in front of the stage, Zhang Yimou still looked shy. Wu Yuan even saw a hint of nervousness in him, not sure if he was seeing things.

“The last time I came to Berlin was nine years ago. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye.”

"I thought European audiences had forgotten me."

A teasing smile appeared on Zhang Yimou's face, but his words were indeed from the heart.

The last time he came to the Berlin Film Festival was in 2010 with "Under the Hawthorn Tree", which was shortlisted for the New Era section of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.

Well, it didn’t make it into the main competition.

If we go back further, the last time he was shortlisted for the three major European competition units was the film "My Father and Mother" directed by him in 1999.

Coincidentally, "My Father and Mother" was also shortlisted for the Berlin International Film Festival that year, and eventually won the Silver Bear Award, the Jury Grand Prix at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival.

I can only say that he has a special connection with the Berlin International Film Festival.

Almost 20 years have passed in a blink of an eye, and Zhang Yimou has once again been shortlisted for the Berlin International Film Festival.

Standing in front of the stage at this moment, facing thousands of pairs of eyes staring at him, Zhang Yimou's heart was filled with countless emotions.

Although he has transformed into commercial films for many years, Zhang Yimou is still a director who started out as an art film director!

The hand holding the microphone was shaking slightly. Zhang Yimou had prepared a thousand words to say, but all his "feelings" were stuck in his chest, and finally he could only say one sentence: "This is my first time making a biographical film."

“I hope everyone likes this movie.”

Even though he is almost 70 years old, Zhang Yimou still dares to try new fields and challenge new themes!
Wu Yuan, sitting quietly in the audience, looked at the introverted and shy Zhang Yimou with a slight smile on his face.

Perhaps this is why Zhang Yimou is called the national master and is still the number one director in the country even though all directors of the same period have fallen behind.

Zhang Yimou's attitude towards movies is indeed worthy of the title of "national master".

Well, it would be better if there was no "Man Jiang Hong"!
However, it is impossible for Zhang Yimou, who has already devoted his life to the era of light and shadow, to go and shoot "Man Jiang Hong" again, right?
It's not that "Man Jiang Hong" is bad, but it's really a failure among failures for a high-profile director like Zhang Yimou to make a movie that is not up to his standards in terms of plot construction, historical background processing, and publicity strategy, which dashed the audience's expectations.

Just like Wu Yuan went to shoot a low-budget comedy.
If you want to shoot a film, make a historical blockbuster about the rise of Yue Fei!
Wu Yuan muttered to himself for a while, and when he came back to his senses, he found that Zhang Yimou's speech had already ended, and the male and female leading actors Liu Yifei and Yu Hewei had already briefly greeted the guests on the scene.

The main creators of "Cai Wenji" have already come to the first row and sat down. Under the anticipation of more than 1600 guests and audiences, the lights in the cinema slowly fell and the big screen began to light up.

This film, which comes from the mysterious East and tells the ups and downs of the life of a talented woman in ancient Chinese history, unveiled its veil in Berlin! (End of this chapter)