Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 162 Closing Ceremony Awards

It was six o'clock in the evening in Cannes, which was already late at night in Beijing.

The sea breeze gently blows the sunset glow of the Mediterranean, and the twilight is quietly dyeing the sky at the end of the red carpet red.

Wu Chen stood on the hotel balcony, looking at the familiar number, a slight smile on his face.

A few seconds later, there was a faint background noise on the other end of the phone, along with Liu Yifei's slightly sleepy but still gentle voice:

"Is the closing ceremony the day after tomorrow? Have you received any notification from the organizing committee?"

"How can it be that fast? If there is any news, it should be tomorrow at the earliest."

Wu Chen smiled, his tone relaxed.

"Hehe, then let me congratulate you in advance on winning the award. This should be the first one."

"Hmm?" Wu Chen thought carefully, "Probably not. Many people have congratulated me on winning the award these days."

"For example?" Liu Yifei asked angrily.

"For example, Jason, Zhou Xun, Zhang Ziyi, and Daniel Wu," Wu Chen listed a series of names.

"Except for Jason, they don't count. They're just being polite. I mean it sincerely, and Jason is the producer, so of course it's different."

Liu Yifei eliminated everyone one by one.

"Okay, so according to what you said, you are indeed the first."

"Hehe, I told you I was the first one, but you still didn't believe me." Liu Yifei's voice was filled with laughter in the night, like mint wrapped in water vapor, gently brushing past her ears.

The two chatted, but neither of them said anything too real. However, the emotions in their words were like the sea breeze on a summer night, which was light and refreshing, yet could make people indulge in it.

The next afternoon, Wu Chen received a notice from the organizing committee, requiring him to attend the award ceremony on the 28th.

People have a love-hate relationship with these three public unspoken rules.

Because the waiting time is torturous, but getting the news is only half a relief, because it is just a notification that you have won a prize, but what the prize is is another matter.

Chadwick Boseman and Blake Lively were even more excited than Wu Chen and Jason Blum.

Especially Chadwick Boseman.

Since the male lead has quite a lot of roles, he might win the Best Actor award.

At this moment, Wu Chen suddenly remembered that Wong Kar-wai was the chairman of the jury. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly and he felt a little nervous, but he still had to send the message.

Wu Chen made a special trip to inform Liu Yifei, Mu Deyuan and others.

On the other hand, Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei were preparing to return home.

The copyright sales in Cannes were quite normal. It seemed that the reporters were clamoring for it, but the film producers were very cautious. After this round, they only negotiated with some European film producers, and they are still in contact with North American producers.

At this moment, Feng Xiaogang couldn't help but complain about Brother Chen Kai and "The Promise".

Before "The Promise", Chinese costume dramas sold very well, but after he made "The Banquet", this incident happened. The overseas film producers who suffered losses have become much more cautious.

"In North America, only Weinstein and Warner are interested, but Weinstein has requirements," Wang Zhonglei muttered.

North America is the main source of copyright profits. To be honest, he is a little anxious. Whether he can make money depends on how the North American copyrights are sold.

"We've made a lot of money back, so it's not bad. Let's talk about it slowly when we get back." Feng Xiaogang didn't care much, he believed in "Night Banquet".

At this moment, Zhou Xun and others noticed that the crew of "Summer Palace" were also carrying their luggage and seemed to be preparing to leave Cannes.

The two sides met.

"Director Lou, is the result out now?" Feng Xiaogang stretched out his hand and shook it.

"Ok!"

Lou Ye smiled a little bitterly. Although he had won many awards, he didn't win any this time. Not only that, he would be banned from directing for five years when he returned. It was really a big loss.

Seeing this, several people didn't seem to dare to say anything more.

"Luckily, the Chinese director and Director Wu are here. Director Wu should have received the news from the organizing committee."

When Lou Ye said this, Feng Xiaogang and others were slightly surprised.

"Win again?" Feng Xiaogang couldn't help asking, but when he thought about the theme of "Get Out", he felt that winning the award was not a surprising thing.

Zhou Xun secretly exclaimed inwardly, took out his phone and sent a text message: "Congratulations to Director Wu for winning the award!"

Wu Chen was stunned when he saw the message, and finally replied with a thank you.

Mu Deyuan and Liu Yifei both saw the news in the morning, but unfortunately it was already late at night in Cannes.

Liu Yifei smiled and quickly replied on the keyboard: "Look, I told you, I was lucky to receive your congratulations. Thank me quickly."

Mu Deyuan picked up the phone and whispered in his throat, which made Zhang Huijun on the other side silent. "If you have something to say, just say it!"

"Nothing much. I just received a message from Wu Chen saying he'd received an invitation from the Cannes organizing committee."

Zhang Huijun's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Can this matter be false?"

"."

On the 28th, at around 6:00 p.m., the red carpet for the closing ceremony kicked off outside the Cannes Film Palace.

Unlike the opening red carpet, the closing ceremony red carpet appears more grand.

Many filmmakers had actually been waiting for this last moment since the opening ceremony.

The stars changed into more eye-catching gowns, the media's shutter clicks rang out one after another, and the cameras flashed the final highlights of filmmakers from all over the world in Cannes.

The chairman of the jury, Wong Kar-wai, wore a dark black suit and sunglasses. The other jury members - Tim Roth, Monica Bellucci, Zhang Ziyi and others appeared one after another.

When it was Wu Chen and his companions' turn, the host on the red carpet introduced them in slightly accented English:
"Get Out," a thrilling social allegory from Chinese director Wu Chen"

Then applause broke out on both sides of the red carpet.

Wu Chen and the two leading actors were also stopped.

"Wu, it's no secret that your film received a huge response at Cannes. Many people admire your courage in exposing the deep-seated problems of society. How did you come up with this story?"

"Absurd stories are often based on reality. In fact, this is a global issue," Wu Chen responded with a smile.

"I see, thank you. I heard that the film was shot in just over twenty days? Is that true?" "Yes, to be precise, the director only took twenty days." Chadwick Boseman responded.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another round of exclamations.

“Unbelievable, a truly great movie”

The host was very surprised. Although she knew that the film would not take too long to shoot, it was still surprising that it was completed in 20 days.

The media on both sides were recording it, and some of the media couldn't help but shout:
"Wu, you've regressed. You could have finished filming in 15 days. You need to keep working harder."

As soon as these words were spoken, both sides burst into laughter.

Everyone still remembers the case of "Buried Alive" which was filmed in 15 days.

"Sorry, I was lazy." Wu Chen also joked, and everyone on the red carpet laughed so hard that they fell backwards.
For example, the award-winning crews, hosts and security generally do not deliberately calculate the time they stay on the red carpet. This year, no one made a special trip to the red carpet, and the closing ceremony was watched closely.

As the winning crews gathered, the award ceremony officially began, and the huge auditorium was packed.

Independent Film Awards, Caméra d'Or, Directors' Fortnight, Un Certain Regard, and Short Film Competition.
These units were the first to award prizes, which was also a gain for the domestic audience. The grand prize of the Un Certain Regard unit was won by Wang Cao's "Summer in Jiangcheng"

After the awards ceremony for each major unit took turns, the highlight of the night, the main competition unit, finally arrived.

The crew next to Wu Chen is the crew of "Tower of Babel".

"Wu, long time no see." Cate Blanchett reached out and shook hands with Wu Chen. "I remember the last time we met was in Berlin. Congratulations."

"Thank you. Your movie is also very interesting. A bullet caused a disaster. Great script."

As a courtesy, Wu Chen also became polite.

However, the movie "Babel" is really interesting. It tells four tragic stories. One of them is about a shepherd boy who, in order to test his gun, randomly tests a bus that is coming from a distance, which almost triggers an international war.
"Hello, Brad Pitt!" Brad Pitt then shook hands with Wu Chen.

"Hello."

The first award in the main competition unit, the Best Screenplay Award, was won by Almodovar's "Voluntary".

Next came the Best Actress Award. Wu Chen couldn't help but sit still and look at the presenter. Cate Blanchett and Blake Lively beside her were a little nervous and looked ahead more seriously than Wu Chen.

"The Return, Carmen Maura"

Just as the presenter was reading out the names of the Best Actress winners, Cate Blanchett and Blake Lively relaxed their tense bodies and leaned back in their chairs.

Everyone seemed to think that the Best Actress award had been decided and gave applause, but unexpectedly the award presenter read out the names of the rest of the candidates one after another.

Penelope Cruz, Laura Duenas, Chase Lamplev

The entire auditorium listened in amazement as the presenter read out the names of six people and applauded.

“What the fuck?”

Jason Blum looked at Wu Chen in disbelief, "Wu, did I hear correctly?"

"You heard right." Wu Chen couldn't help laughing.

There was an uproar in the auditorium.

No one expected that there would be six film queens. Well, fortunately, they were all from the same movie, but it was really unexpected.

The crew of "Return" was very excited.

Well, there's no need to divide it now. The director wrote and directed the film himself, so he won the screenwriting award. And "Volume" is a feminist film, so it's reasonable for it to win six Best Actress awards. There's no need to argue about it.

The people in the audience looked at the six actresses on the stage giving their acceptance speeches with complicated expressions.

The last time there were more than six Best Actresses was in "Eight Beauties" when eight women shared the same stage to receive awards at the Berlin Film Festival and the European Film Awards.

Next up was the Best Actor award.

After the "rehearsal" for the Best Actress, when Sami Buagia from "Glory Days" was called out, everyone remained very calm.

The ceremony could only be concluded after the presenter announced the names of five actors, including Jameh Debouze and Rochdi Sam, were called out, and everyone could only applaud numbly.

The six Best Actresses and five Best Actor winners complement each other, once again proving the acting prowess of European actors and the operational prowess of Asian directors.

Wong Kar-wai has taken the principle of "everyone who sees it gets a share" to an extreme, which is amazing.

"A great initiative!" Jason Blum was speechless for a moment, and finally muttered to Wu Chen slowly.

"What a pity!" Wu Chen patted Chadwick Boseman on the shoulder. Although there are five Best Actor awards, they are all from "Days of Glory".

Fortunately, the Best Director Award returned to normal and there was no situation of three or four yolks. It was won by Gonzalez for "Babel".

That leaves only the jury, the panel and the Palme d'Or.

"This is good news. At least we still have a chance at the Palme d'Or." Jason Blum laughed happily, and for a moment he couldn't help but imagine the combination of the Palme d'Or and the Oscars.

It really gives hope because the Jury Prize was won by "Red Road", a thriller film.

This year's Cannes does not seem to be averse to horror themes.

For a time, everyone was speculating whether "Get Out" had a chance to win the Palme d'Or, because the social contradictions exposed in this film were more profound.

"The winner of the Grand Jury Prize is——

Get Out!

As the presenter called out the name of the movie, warm applause rang out again in the venue.

"Just a little bit." Jason Blum said with emotion while hugging Wu Chen.

"We should be content." Wu Chen smiled and congratulated everyone in the crew one by one.

"Congratulations." Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt on the side also spoke up to congratulate.

"Thank you!"

Wu Chen smiled and nodded, then walked onto the stage amidst applause, receiving the trophy, which had a silver palm leaf embedded in the frame.

Standing in front of the microphone, Wu Chen pointed to the trophy beside him and said, "It's a beautiful palm leaf. It's a pity that the organizing committee and the judging panel refused to give me a gold one, perhaps due to limited funds. Fortunately, the silver one looks just as nice."

"Hahaha"

When Wu Chen said this, the audience laughed out loud.

"Thank you, thank you. I hope you can approve more funding next time I come."

(End of this chapter)