Chapter 14: Golden Horse

Lin Nan felt very awkward, standing there like an idiot, having to say "I'm in the Directing Department" every now and then.

The new freshmen were very enthusiastic; it had only been three months since *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* left theaters, and the buzz was still there.

Only a few days into his sophomore year, good news arrived.

Li Yang notified him that Lin Nan had been nominated for Best New Performer.

Shanghai Film Group called to say *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* had been nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

The school teachers were very happy, and Lin Nan was excited too; Best Original Screenplay was fine, but this year was the world of *Infernal Affairs*.

After the news came out, the public finally realized that Lin Nan, the director and lead actor of *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*, had also acted in *Blind Shaft*.

For the crew of *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*, it was a different story; many who had originally decided not to attend regretted it, as having a nomination made all the difference.

Unfortunately, the list had already been finalized with Shanghai Film Group: Lin Nan, Zhu Yawen, Zhou Yang, and Jiang Yiyan.

As for the screenwriter, director, lead actor, and even the producer, they were all just Lin Nan.

Within two days, the congratulatory calls never stopped, and the messages on Penguin never ceased; many were from people he had only met when visiting the school next door.

"Director Lin, wishing the film success in winning... Tang."

Shanghai Film Group started promoting again, bragging about their "keen eye for talent" for months; Lin Nan was almost embarrassed by it, as his skin hadn't been tempered to the level of a master director yet.

The *Lotus Lantern* crew hitched a ride on the hype, though they had checked with Lin Nan beforehand.

The first *Infernal Affairs* was released; after being shelved for a year, it was finally let in.

This series would also be the final glory of Hong Kong cinema.

Those with a keen sense of smell had already started actively embracing the mainland; *The Proud Twins* had already been filed, and word was that *The Handsome Siblings* was also preparing for project filing.

One had to admit that *Infernal Affairs* was a classic; coming out of the theater, everyone said so.

The film critics' reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and it was indeed good, but these people were truly turncoats; they always thought the moon was rounder abroad, and took the opportunity to step on a large number of mainland films, including Lin Nan's.

In fact, everyone had already seen the disc of this film, so this theatrical release was just a distribution experiment by China Film Group, but Lin Nan and some classmates still came to show their support.

"I heard the investment was over twenty million; that's too daring."

"The remake rights have already been sold; that alone sold for nearly two million USD, so what do you think?" someone explained.

"It's a miracle it was made, and an even bigger miracle that it made money."

Sure enough, *Warriors of Heaven and Earth* and *Me and My Dad* were no match for the momentum of *Infernal Affairs*.

The Golden Horse Awards announced the nomination list, and the two items related to Lin Nan were still there; now the people around him were even more excited.

A nomination represents a possibility, but being shortlisted means entering the finals.

Just a few days after the shortlist was announced, with a month left until the awards ceremony, the teachers started asking him when he would ask for leave, saying he just needed to give them a heads-up when the time came.

In the past, most student awards happened at the school next door, so the school was under pressure.

*Cell Phone* started large-scale promotion; another masterpiece from Director Feng, reflecting social reality, and all participants were powerful, acting-oriented performers.

*Cell Phone* held a promotion at the Film Academy, and Lin Nan was there too; Fan Bingbing wasn't "Master Fan" yet, but she was very beautiful, the type mature men liked.

Director Feng could be called the ace of Huayi, and he was also a man full of inspirational stories; if not for his looks, he would be a perfect novel protagonist.

Watching Director Feng talking and laughing on stage, Lin Nan suddenly thought of a line: It doesn't matter if a man is old and ugly, the most important thing is to have talent...

That made a lot of sense.

The release date for *Cell Phone* was set for December 18th, and Lin Nan would definitely not be in the mainland by then.

As time drew closer, Shanghai Film Group started asking, and Lin Nan had to prepare.

Zhu Yawen was already packing his luggage and asking about his suit.

"We don't need to worry about this; Shanghai Film Group has prepared it. Tell the two of them that the gowns are the same."

Lin Nan told Zhu Yawen.

On December 1st, the four of them dragged their suitcases and left school, accompanied by a staff member from Shanghai Film Group.

"Director Lin, the leaders will meet up with us over there."

Lin Nan nodded; they were flying from the school, and Shanghai Film Group was departing from their side.

After landing, they saw the people from Shanghai Film Group waiting to pick them up.

"Director Lin, President Ren is here too," someone said to Lin Nan.

For this year's Golden Horse, besides the four of them, there were almost no mainland artists, and certainly no major awards.

But many mainland companies came; after all, the Golden Horse was still the benchmark of the Chinese-language film circle.

The red carpet was on December 13th, as was the awards ceremony.

The hotel where they stayed was with the Shanghai Film Group people, and Lin Nan went to see President Ren.

The two met in the second-floor coffee shop, and the other party brought a secretary—a man.

"President Ren, hello," Lin Nan took the initiative to greet him; the other was a big shot, and he was a junior, so he had to be polite.

"Director Lin, you're so young; the younger generation is to be feared. Being able to come and compete this time is also your credit; among the major film studios, only our Shanghai Film Group has works competing," President Ren said this very happily, not being subtle at all.

Nowadays, policy favored commercial films—that is, films that could sell tickets.

Director Zhang had Zhang Weiping, and foreign film companies favored him. China Film Group was the leader, located in the Beijing circle; Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige were both close to it, and Huayi was also at the core of the Beijing circle.

There weren't many directors who could sell, and almost all had fixed partners.

"Director Lin, do you have any plans for a new film?" President Ren asked, taking a sip of coffee.

Many thoughts flashed through Lin Nan's mind, "I plan to prepare a new film in the first half of next year."

"Oh, you have a plan? What genre is it?" President Ren asked, the smile on his face giving a feeling of a spring breeze.

"There is no script yet, but it should still be a commercial film," that was all Lin Nan could say; after all, the person in front of him was his financier.

"Good, commercial films are good; what the higher-ups encourage are commercial films. When the budget is out, let me know; whatever is missing, I'll cover it for you."

President Ren was very generous, patting his chest and taking full responsibility.

Tropical fruits were very cheap here, and for the past few days, Lin Nan and Zhu Yawen had been eating them in every possible way.

On the noon of the 13th, Lin Nan had already changed into a black suit provided by Shanghai Film Group. Zhu Yawen chose a blue one, which was very flashy.

The two ladies were in standard evening gowns. In a few hours, the red carpet would begin.

As the representative of the production company, Shanghai Film Group, President Ren was dressed very meticulously in a Zhongshan suit.

At three o'clock, Lin Nan and President Ren were in one car, and Zhu Yawen and the others were behind.

At the Municipal Art Center, it was already a sea of people on both sides; getting out of the car, Lin Nan saw Li Yang walking over.

"Director Li," Lin Nan took the initiative to hug him.

The latter continued to greet President Ren.

Besides fans, there were many reporters with long lenses and short cannons on both sides, both Chinese and foreign.

Lin Nan needed to walk the red carpet twice; in order, *Blind Shaft* was after *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* because it had the Silver Bear endorsement.

More and more cars arrived, and quite a few drove away.

Lin Nan saw those people from Hong Kong; the two, Liu and Liang, were contenders for Best Actor tonight. *Infernal Affairs* was too strong; Simon Yam and Daniel Wu couldn't beat them.

The main awards were all claimed by *Infernal Affairs*.

"Walking up now is the crew of *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*..."

Lin Nan didn't hear clearly what was said, as it was mixed with some accents.

He followed in President Ren's footsteps, with Zhu Yawen, Zhou Yang, and Jiang Yiyan at his side.

The two women were very excited because people around were shouting their character names from the film.

"Director Lin, I heard you are still in school, yet you are already a film director and lead actor, and the box office is so good; what are your thoughts?"

Questions on such occasions were always this direct.

"It's alright; there are plenty of people like me in school." Lin Nan didn't say much, just brushing it off; he didn't know what to say either. Mostly, President Ren was holding court—he was a leader, after all.

Entering the venue, they were led to a seat in the middle-back; Lin Nan wondered if they would have been sitting in some corner in the back if not for President Ren.

Lin Nan turned back; Director Li Yang was still waiting for him.

When he walked the red carpet again with Li Yang, even the host was stunned for a moment.

"I am also one of the lead actors in this film."

Lin Nan said, and Li Yang added, "And one of the investors."

A Silver Bear director is different; these people who fawn over the powerful and trample the weak were all speaking nicely now.

The host of the awards ceremony was half a man and a woman, the woman from Hong Kong.

This Golden Horse could be said to be contracted by Hong Kong films.

For Best Feature Film, *Blind Shaft* lost to *Infernal Affairs*; Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, and Best Supporting Actor all came from Hong Kong films.

*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* won Best Original Screenplay; nominated, shortlisted, and won—no gaps.

Lin Nan didn't have a hard time going up to receive the award; he finished his standard acceptance speech and came down.

President Ren took the trophy Lin Nan handed him, looked at it, and returned it to Lin Nan, "Keep up the good work in the future."

Several people took turns, and Lin Nan sat down next to Li Yang.

"Best Adapted Screenplay, Li Yang."

Li Yang stood up happily, hugged Lin Nan, and went up; the spotlight flashed over.

"Best New Performer, *Blind Shaft*, Lin Nan."

At this moment, Lin Nan only had one thought in his heart: "It's here."

"You've harvested two awards in your first film festival; Director Lin, do you have any acceptance speech?"

"Thank you, Brother Li Yang, for giving me this role and officially bringing me into the industry. Thank you, President Ren, for investing in me to film *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*. I will continue to work hard. Thank you."

Although they weren't the most important awards, Lin Nan was very satisfied; there were two of them.

"Good lad, you're really singing my praises," Li Yang punched Lin Nan; he could tell that Lin Nan's speech just now came from the heart.

"It's a pity, I won't be able to film in the mainland for five years."

Lin Nan nodded and said nothing.

Over here, the competition for the most intense awards began; Best Feature Film and Best Director both went to *Infernal Affairs*. The battle for Best Actor was also an internal struggle within *Infernal Affairs*, with Liu Dehua losing to Liang Chaowei by a single vote.

Time will prove whether a person's stance is crooked or not.

"The news in the mainland is probably drafting headlines right now," President Ren remarked. *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* winning an award, regardless of which one, was to his credit as far as the Shanghai Film Studio was concerned.

He was right; the emerging web portals had already posted the big headlines.

"Lin Nan wins Best New Performer and Best Original Screenplay."

"Director Lin Nan, from the 2002 Directing Department of the Film Academy, at the 40th Golden Horse..."

After the awards ceremony ended, Lin Nan and Zhu Yawen slipped past a few people and rushed over to the Heavenly King Liu to ask for an autograph, and even had someone from the Shanghai Film Studio help take a group photo.

"Director Lin, remember to look for me if there's a chance to collaborate; the salary is negotiable," although Heavenly King Liu had a hooked nose, his character was impeccable.

"You are too kind."