I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

While minor awards might be given exceptions, the three core and prestigious awards—Best Director, Special Jury Prize, and Golden Lion for Best Film—will absolutely not be awarded to the same film or the same director.

In other words, if Chen Kaige wins Best Director, he will be completely out of contention for the Golden Lion Award for Best Film; conversely, if he misses out on Best Director, he will have a chance to compete for the Golden Lion Award, the highest honor of this year's competition.

Compared to Best Director, the Golden Lion Award for Best Film is the festival's grand finale and highest honor, carrying a completely different weight and representing the ultimate goal that both of them desire at this moment.

The entire audience held their breath, everyone waiting for the final result.

Western award presenters are always adept at creating a lively atmosphere and generating humor, and this time was no exception.

He started with a series of lighthearted and humorous opening remarks, which made the audience laugh continuously and relaxed the atmosphere, whetting everyone's appetite before slowly revealing the final list of winners.

"Let us congratulate—Li..."

The moment the word "Li" was uttered, the entire room fell silent.

Among the nominees for Best Director this year, only one person has the surname Li, making the answer almost obvious.

Li An's body stiffened slightly, and a complex expression instantly appeared on his face, half of which was the excitement and joy of winning the award, and the other half was the disappointment and regret of missing the Golden Lion Award.

Winning Best Director proves his personal talent, but it also completely means he is out of the running for the Golden Lion Award for Best Film, the highest honor at this year's festival.

"Congratulations, Director Li."

Liang Chaowei, who was standing next to him, immediately turned to offer his congratulations, his tone sincere.

The camera focused precisely on Li An. Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Li An suppressed his complex emotions, put on a composed smile, stood up and embraced Tony Leung. Then, amidst enthusiastic applause, he steadily walked onto the awards stage, accepted his Best Director trophy, and reaped this weighty honor.

"It's changed, completely changed. It seems to be the butterfly effect at work."

Cheng Sheng gazed at Li An on the screen as he went up to receive the award, a deep look flashing in his eyes, and murmured softly.

"What has changed?" Zeng Li, who was standing next to him, immediately caught his whisper and turned her head to ask with a puzzled look on her face.

"It's nothing." Cheng Sheng shook his head gently, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and did not offer any further explanation.

He couldn't explain it.

Only he knew that, according to the original timeline, Li An was never supposed to win Best Director tonight, but rather the Golden Lion Award for Best Film, which was the grand finale.

Now that the awards are misaligned, Li An has won Best Director ahead of time, which has completely blocked his path to winning awards and left him out of the final big prize.

This seemingly minor change in awards, which appeared to be just a routine award distribution, actually meant that the entire film festival's outcome had been completely altered by his intervention.

Zeng Li stared at him for a few more seconds. Seeing that he looked calm and composed, without any sign of anything amiss, she suppressed her doubts and turned her attention back to the live stream.

"Cheng Sheng, now that Li An has won Best Director, does that mean he can no longer win Best Picture?" Li Xiaoran turned to Cheng Sheng and asked the crucial question precisely.

“Hmm.” Cheng Sheng nodded slightly, his tone firm: “The three core awards of the film festival do not overlap; that has always been the rule.”

Just then, Cheng Sheng's cell phone vibrated slightly in his pocket.

He quickly glanced at the three women beside him and, seeing that everyone's attention was firmly fixed on the TV awards ceremony and no one was paying attention to him, quietly took out his phone and opened the chat interface.

The messages were from Chen Hong, three in a row, each word clear. [Chen Kaige has a chance to win Best Film.]

[Ah Sheng, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, Chen Kaige definitely wouldn't have won this award.]

When are you coming back? Xu Jie and I miss you so much.

Cheng Sheng stared at the text on the screen, his fingertips twitching slightly. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching, he quickly edited a reply: [It's almost finished. The crew should wrap up filming before National Day. I'll go back to Kyoto then; see you at our usual spot.]

After sending the message, he cleared the background processes, quietly put away his phone, and returned to his normal expression, as if nothing had ever happened.

On stage, Li An held the heavy Best Director trophy, calmly and sincerely delivered a long acceptance speech, bowed in thanks, and slowly walked off the stage.

Following that, the penultimate major award of this year's Venice Film Festival—the Special Jury Prize—was officially announced.

All four films nominated for this award this year are high-quality overseas productions, with not a single Chinese-language film, making the competition exceptionally fierce.

The moment the presenter announced the final winners, all the guests in the room and all the viewers in front of the screen were stunned, their faces filled with astonishment.

Another double-yolk egg.

Previously, the Best Actress award had just resulted in an unprecedented tie, setting a record for Venice for many years. Now, the Jury Prize has once again been shared, ending the tie.

Everyone finally realized that this year's Venice Film Festival was determined to distribute the spoils equally, taking the art of "cake-sharing" to its extreme.

With the jury's grand prize decided, the atmosphere in the room instantly reached its peak.

Finally, the most important award of the entire event, the ultimate award that all film crews and audiences have been most looking forward to—the Golden Lion Award for Best Film—is about to be announced.

In the audience, Chen Kai leaned slightly forward, his eyes fixed on the award presenter on stage, his expression a complex mix of nervousness, anticipation, and awkwardness.

The reason is that the person presenting the Golden Lion Award tonight is not a foreign judge, but the chairman of the jury for this year's Venice main competition – Zhang Guoshi.

At that moment, he felt particularly awkward.

Chen Kaige has always been arrogant and proud, with an inherent sense of superiority stemming from his background.

Born into a film family, he was immersed in the film and television industry from a young age. His father is a well-known director in China, and he had access to top-notch film resources from childhood, giving him a head start far ahead of his peers. He became famous at a young age and established himself as a renowned director early on.

In stark contrast, Zhang Guoshi came from humble beginnings, with no background or resources. He worked his way up step by step, carving out his own path from the bottom.

In public, Chen Kaige always maintained a respectable demeanor and never openly belittled Zhang Guoshi's humble origins, but in private, he always looked down on him.

What bothered him most was the election for the chief director of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games that year.

He believed he was superior in every aspect, including experience and background, but ultimately he was defeated by Zhang Guoshi, who came from humble beginnings.

This incident left him feeling frustrated for a long time, and he often complained in private that the organizing committee was blind to talent, choosing a peasant instead of a respected director with a family background in traditional arts.

But fortunes change, and now Zhang Ziyi holds a high position as the chairman of the jury for this year's film festival, wielding the power of life and death over the Golden Lion Award.

He was merely a nominated director awaiting the awards ceremony. (End of Chapter)