Chapter 19: Price Quotes and Capturing the Bear

Early in the morning, the several main creators gathered together, listening to Wei Jin read out one by one the latest reports on "Buried" in certain German newspapers; the smiles on their faces never ceased.

After the premiere last night, the group held a lively premiere press conference under the pursuit of reporters, which lasted for over an hour, and the atmosphere was excellent.

Reporters from various countries were very curious about this director, Wei Jin; being able to write such a script and shoot such a film, many were prepared to find some unusual hot topics from him. There was also an interview with domestic media this afternoon. There were quite a few domestic reporters who came to this Berlin International Film Festival, such as "Movie View", "Southern Metropolis Daily", "China Film News", "Movie Channel", and so on.

Moreover, reporters from Sina and Sohu Entertainment had actually sent people to the scene as well. The questions asked were basically about what it felt like to be in Berlin for the first time, what they had seen and heard at their first time attending one of the European Big Three, whether they had confidence in winning an award, and some behind-the-scenes things about the film. Although he had already answered many times last night, Wei Jin still had to repeat his answers over and over again.

Having finally sent the reporters away, the several main creators gathered in Wei Jin's room to discuss what they had seen and heard during this trip to Berlin, as well as their expectations for finally winning an award.

Gao Yuanyuan did not avoid it either; she sat demurely beside Wei Jin like a young wife. The others were not surprised by this; it was too normal. Which director didn't have a few romantic affairs? Besides, Wei Jin was young and handsome; who knew who was getting the better end of the deal?

"Wei Jin, what are your thoughts on the copyright transaction for 'Buried'?"

The one speaking was Teacher Jiang Wei. As the Producer, he had also met with a large number of film distributors over the past few days, but the results were not very good.

However, since the premiere last night, the situation had improved, and several distributors he had contacted before began to raise their offers.

"What is the price now?"

Wei Jin asked casually.

"The offers from interested distributors currently add up to over 1.3 million US dollars."

Jiang Wei was somewhat excited, and the others also had expressions of joy upon hearing this.

"Hmm, no rush. Let's wait for the final result."

Wei Jin considered it for a moment and replied. After all, once the film won an award, the copyright value would increase significantly, especially for a small-budget film like "Buried" with its extremely singular setting; its adaptation value was huge.

"But if we don't win an award, the price might not be as good as it is now."

Once Chen Zhiming said this, it was a bit of a buzzkill, but as a professional manager, it was right to take profits when they were good and be rational.

"It's fine, no need to overthink it. The film's budget is limited; no matter what, we'll make a profit."

Wei Jin didn't care about this small amount of money now.

"Besides, I have confidence. There is a high probability we can win an award; you all need to have confidence too."

Hearing Wei Jin's words, the others recalled the pursuit and media praise they received after the premiere last night and nodded.

Gao Yuanyuan, who was on the side, saw Wei Jin's confident appearance, and her beautiful eyes were filled with even more brilliance.

The group chatted a bit more about their views on the other shortlisted films, and before long, they said their goodbyes and left.

After the others left, Gao Yuanyuan immediately straddled Wei Jin, her eyes hazy, clearly somewhat moved.

An excellent man truly had a fatal attraction to women. What could Wei Jin do? With a beauty in his arms, he could only accompany her to the end.

For several consecutive days, besides fooling around with Da Meiyuan in the room, Wei Jin attended the premieres of other shortlisted films, while Chen Zhiming and Jiang Wei roamed among the various judges, striving to create some advantages for the film to win an award.

February 15th, 10:00 AM.

Inside Wei Jin's room, the five members of the "Buried" crew were all gathered here, waiting for something.

"Why hasn't there been a notification yet?"

Chen Zhiming paced back and forth in the room, the anxious look on his face clearly revealed.

Wei Jin looked at the group; although everyone was pretending to be composed, the atmosphere was still a bit tense, so he spoke to comfort them:

"Don't worry, we will definitely have an award." The judging process of the Berlin International Film Festival is on the last day of the festival, where the organizers gather the judges in a villa in the suburbs to select the final judging results.

The inside and outside of the villa are isolated, and the judges cannot use communication tools. After discussing the final award results, at 6:00 PM, on the eve of the awards ceremony, the police escort the judges to the Film Palace.

If there is no major controversy, the award results usually come out in the morning, and the organizing committee will notify the winners to attend the awards ceremony in the evening.

And if they haven't received an invitation notification from the organizing committee before this afternoon, then everyone can just pack up and leave. It was already ten o'clock; the later it got, the more anxious everyone became.

Just as everyone was silent, the phone rang, and everyone held their breath all at once.

Wei Jin paused for a moment, grabbed the phone: "Hmm, okay, thank you, goodbye."

After finishing, he put the phone down heavily and let out a long sigh of relief:

"We have been invited to attend the closing ceremony."

Hearing this, everyone cheered, because this meant there was a high probability of winning an award.

"Alright, let's eat first, and attend the awards ceremony dressed up on time tonight."

Gao Yuanyuan would also attend as Wei Jin's partner.

In fact, from the second to last day of the film festival, some small awards had already begun to be presented, such as the Youth Forum Award, the FIPRESCI Prize, etc. Wei Jin was shortlisted for the Main Competition Section, so he didn't pay much attention to the other sections.

After 6:00 PM, the entire "Buried" crew, dressed in their finest, walked onto the red carpet in front of the Film Palace amidst the cheers of fans and the long guns and short cannons of reporters.

The closing ceremony red carpet was much less star-studded because the crews that didn't receive invitations had already left. It was freezing cold, so everyone walked the red carpet very quickly. This was also the reason why female stars preferred to crash the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival; for no other reason than the weather being good.

Entering the hall, it was crowded and bustling; the group found the crew's seats and began to sit down.

Next to them was the "20 30 40" crew from Taiwan, directed by Zhang Aijia. The arrangement was quite thoughtful; these were the only two Chinese-language films shortlisted this year.

The European Big Three film festivals do not have the concept of Best Actor/Actress nominations; generally, films shortlisted for the Main Competition Section are implicitly qualified to compete for Best Actor/Actress. So if someone says a certain star received a Best Actor/Actress nomination at the European Big Three, they are definitely a layman.

And Qin Hao also had a hope of winning Best Actor this time, so as it got closer, he became increasingly nervous.

As all the guests entered, the awards ceremony officially began. After the host's opening remarks, the film festival chairman, Koslick, also went on stage to deliver a speech, and then the formal awards began.

At first, some small awards were presented, such as the short film award. Unlike evening galas, the awards ceremonies of the European Big Three are very simple, without singing or dancing performances; it is just a simple commendation meeting, so although it looks like many awards are being presented, it is actually very fast.

After the host's transition, the jury president of this film festival—American actress Francis McDormand—brought several judges onto the stage, and the awards ceremony for the Main Competition Section officially began.

After a series of award lists, Wei Jin finally heard his own name.

"The winner of this film festival's Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award is... the screenwriter and director of the film 'Buried', Wei Jin."

Hearing the presenter's words, the joy on the group's faces was beyond words, and Gao Yuanyuan was also full of surprise and admiration.

"Xiao Wei, congratulations, I knew you would definitely win an award."

Gao Yuanyuan's tone was somewhat excited. This temporary partner had won a Silver Bear at less than 21 years old; he could be considered the first person in the country, right? He was truly very talented.

"It's a pity this man doesn't belong to me yet."

Wei Jin was not pretentious either; after hugging everyone one by one, he strode toward the stage.

A new author writing a book for the first time, kneeling and begging for collections, follows, reads, and recommendations, thank you everyone. A new author writing a book for the first time, kneeling and begging for collections, follows, reads, and recommendations, thank you everyone.

I don't like odd numbers, so three chapters today.

(End of this chapter)