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"Whoosh!"

Waves of applause came one after another, rushing towards Zhang Guorong who was in a daze.

Even though he was prepared, Zhang Guorong's head suddenly started buzzing.

It was Fangyan who patted his shoulder and brought him back to his senses from his confusion.

"Come on! We all came from the Chinese film industry, so don't lose any points!"

"Brother, good job!"

Zhu Lin, Gong Xing and others applauded and cheered.

Zhang Guorong took a deep breath, buttoned two buttons of his suit, and strode onto the stage.

As they passed by each participating film crew along the way, they all gave applause and blessings, especially to "A City of Sadness".

Liang Chaowei looked at Zhang Guorong with envy and a burning gaze, wishing he could replace him.

Originally, Zhang Guorong won the Cannes Best Actor Award, the Golden Globe Best Actor Award and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor for "Farewell My Concubine", and was already on par with "Two Weeks on a Trip". Now he has been crowned the Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, becoming the first international actor in Hong Kong's history, and his status is even more transcendent.

Zhang Guorong took the trophy from Xie Jin, said "thank you", and looked at the audience from left to right.

"I am honored to be here tonight and receive the first 'Best Actor Award' in my acting career!"

"When I was little, I liked cats very much, and even worshipped them a little bit. You heard it right, it was cats, Cat. Because when I was little, the elders in my family always told me that cats have nine lives. Think about it, a person only has one life, but a cat can extend its life nine times, so I think it's no wonder that it can be so arrogant. This idea of ​​liking cats continued until I almost graduated from elementary school and entered middle school. Then I transferred this idea to liking watching movies. I fell in love with movies because I think that movies are a collective work. Under the careful guidance of a good director, some actors can perform some amazing roles on the screen. In some senses, it seems that they have more lives. So a good actor can give himself countless lives..."

"Heh, didn't Guo Rong say that he didn't prepare a speech to accept the award?"

Fangyan gave a playful smile.

"Wait for him to come down later, and ask him some questions!"

A cunning look flashed in Gong Xing's eyes.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhang Guorong gradually got into the groove, and the visible nervousness at the beginning had completely disappeared.

"Finally, let me say here, my friends, thank you for giving me the opportunity. Thank you very much!"

"Clap clap clap."

Applause rang out again, sending Zhang Guorong back to his seat on the stage.

Gong Xing was the first to jump out and "question the culprit", "You also said that you didn't prepare a speech! Listen to what you said on the stage!"

"You found me."

Zhang Guorong gave an awkward yet polite smile.

"How does it feel to be Hong Kong's first international film actor?"

The dialect refers to the Hong Kong area, not the entire Chinese film industry. That's because the first international film emperor in Chinese-language films was Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yimou won the Best Actor award at the 2nd Tokyo Film Festival for his performance in "Old Well".

"It feels like a dream, even more unreal than when I was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor."

Zhang Guorong said that he himself was not destined to win big awards. He was nominated for the Best Actor award at the Academy Awards many times, but he always failed. Fang Yan said: "This can be regarded as fulfilling your dream. Of course, it can also be regarded as fulfilling my promise to you."

"Thank you Mr. Fang!"

Zhang Guorong thought about Fang Yan's promise to make him the best actor a few years ago, but he didn't expect it to come true so soon! The reward would be so great!

Zhu Lin noticed a hint of regret on his joyful face and was very puzzled.

Zhang Guorong explained that although he was happy that he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival, according to the rules of the international film festival, does this mean that the possibility of "In the Mood for Love" winning the Golden Lion Award is becoming increasingly smaller? After all, the film has already won two awards so far.

Everyone present knew the answer to this question, but no one dared to raise it, as they were all trying to avoid the consequence of missing out on the Golden Lion Award.

Similarly, the controversy caused by Rongsheng Zhang winning the Best Actor award also began to spread in the venue.

Originally, all other participating crews thought that the Golden Lion Award would go to In the Mood for Love, so they all surrendered and gave up. But now it is different. Those film crews that have not won any awards so far have rekindled their hope and think that they will be the dark horse!

"This……"

Gong Xing pursed his lips, his eyes looking lonely.

"what happened?"

Fangyan held her smooth, white hand.

“It’s just a pity.”

Gong Xing originally wanted "Red Sorghum" to win the Berlin Golden Bear Award and "Farewell My Concubine" to win the Cannes Palme d'Or. If "In the Mood for Love" wins the Golden Lion Award, it will not only be a highlight of her personal film achievements, but will also allow Chinese films to achieve a grand slam at European film festivals.

"You think so too?"

Looking around, Fangyan found that everyone was in a low mood.

Zhu Lin, Zhang Guorong and others nodded and sighed deeply.

"Have you ever thought about a question?"

Fang Yan said: "Even if In the Mood for Love didn't win the Golden Lion Award, the jury should have given it a special award, a special jury award, or an honorary nomination award as a consolation. But why didn't In the Mood for Love get even one award?"

Gong Xing looked up suddenly, "You mean!"

Fang Yan gently patted the back of her hand and said, "Don't be discouraged. We still have a chance."

Zhu Lin and others also rekindled their fighting spirit, staring straight at Biraghi's speech summarizing this Venice Film Festival.

"Okay, now I will announce the winner of the 46th Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Award."

"As we all know, the Golden Lion Award must be unanimously recognized by the jury members. According to the voting results, the winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at this year's Venice Film Festival is..." As he spoke, he deliberately dragged out the tail tone to create suspense, which completely whetted the appetite of the guests in the audience.

"In the Mood for Love! Congratulations!"

In an instant, the whole audience was in an uproar, and emotions such as shock, confusion, and bewilderment quickly spread among the crowd.

No one could have imagined that "In the Mood for Love", which had already won the Best Actor and Best New Actor awards, would have the last laugh!
Although the Venice Film Festival does not have a clear rule that Golden Lion works cannot win the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the same time, no work has ever broken this convention. However, this time, In the Mood for Love did it! It became the only exception!
It is not only the first film to win both the Golden Lion Award and the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival, but also the first Chinese-language film to win the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. At this moment, In the Mood for Love and its creators Fang Yan, Gong Xing and others have made history! (End of this chapter)