Chapter 26 A Night in Cannes Closing ceremony! The red carpet ceremony began. Chen An wanted to walk this ceremony last time in didn’t expect it to happen in Cannes. A year later, Chen An still remembers the feeling of watching others walk on the red carpet and being the center of attention. So Chen An, dressed neatly, brought Ning Jing to the front and stepped onto the red carpet. Waved to the reporters and spectators around. The clicking sound of the flash lights made Chen An's eyes hurt a little. Suddenly I didn’t like this part that much. However, in order to cooperate with Ning Jing, she was allowed to be photographed by reporters to increase her exposure. Chen An walked very slowly, and sometimes after walking for a while someone would ask them to stop and take a photo. Ning Jing also met their requirements, and Chen An was waiting quietly by the side. He cooperated with her to take photos, let Ning Jing hold his right hand, and then slowly walked up the stairs.
Only after signing your name can you enter the venue. With the help of the staff, I found my seat in the crew. Compared to the last time in Venice, the seats are much closer to the front, and next door are the crews of "Feng Yue" and "Goodbye South, Goodbye South". It seems that this was specially arranged by the program team. The two crews entered the venue before Chen An, and when they saw Chen An coming, most people nodded to him. Zhang Guorong also smiled and said to Chen An: "Director Chen's movies are really well made. I hope you can gain something and have a chance to cooperate with him." "Thank you. I will definitely work with Mr. Zhang if I have the chance." Chen An did not refuse. After all, it was Zhang Guorong, and it would be a good thing for him to work with such a superstar. Afterwards, everyone from the "Run Lola Run" crew found a seat and sat down, and Han Sanping also sat next to Chen An. Everyone in the crew was chatting with each other, looking at the foreign stars who came in with curiosity. Chen An also saw the Coen brothers walking in together, and knew that they were his biggest opponents this time. The winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in my previous life. With the arrival of various crews and the host coming on stage, the award ceremony officially began. The three major film festivals are all relatively serious, unlike the Oscars which invite talk show hosts to host their shows. After the host on the stage said some opening words, the awards began to be presented. The awards for other units were presented first. After some major technical awards, a small award for Catholic Humanitarianism. Only then will it be officially the turn to win the main competition unit award. That is the so-called main course. There are about 20 films shortlisted for the main competition unit, but only a few of them can win awards in the end.
The host invites award presenters to the stage, one for each award. The first award was for Best Screenplay, which went to the French film "Homemade Heroes". The subsequent acting awards, because Cannes does not have a Best Supporting Actor award, only Best Actor and Best Actress. When the Best Actress award ceremony began, Ning Jing had already closed her eyes and was waiting for the award. Chen An watched quietly, not feeling very hopeful. Although it is a movie with a strong female lead, there is not much space left for the female lead to perform, and Ning Jing is indeed not enough. As he expected, the Best Actress award was given to Brenda Blethyn, a British actress from the "Secrets and Lies" crew, just like in her previous life. The Best Actor award was given to Pascal Duquesne and Daniel Auteuil, two actors from the crew of "The Eighth Day", who laid a double yolk egg. Jiang Wu was not sad, as he had already expected that he would not be able to win this award. However, the more Chen An listened, the more frightened he became. These award ceremonies were exactly the same as those of his previous generation. "I hope I won't end up with nothing as well." Chen An, whose Best Director award was about to be presented, couldn't help but think in his heart. The Best Director award began to be presented and the host invited the presenter to the stage. Behind the stage, Gong Li came out with a new look. Holding the award and a list of winners in his hand, he handed the list to the host and stood on the podium waiting with a smile. The host opened the list of winners and began to announce: "The winner of the Best Director Award at the 49th Cannes International Film Festival is Run Lola Run!" "Congratulations, young An~chen!" When I was sitting in the audience and heard the host call my name. Brother Chen Kai also applauded. He admired his junior fellow apprentice very much. He was talented, just like himself. This subcategories me! Hou Xiaoxian was not stingy and took the lead in applauding the young mainland director. The entire crew was in an uproar. Han Sanping even patted the confused Chen An on the shoulder and said, "Why are you in a daze? Come up now, you've won the award!" Chen An reacted immediately and stood up, hugged the crew members, and then ran to the stage. After saying thank you to the host, he received the certificate in front of Gong Li. Yes, a certificate! Unlike other film festivals, at today's Cannes Film Festival, except for the Palme d'Or, all other awards are presented as certificates, including the Best Actor award that Ge You won that year. Only Chen Kaige’s is an award plaque. After receiving the certificate, Chen An heard Gong Li in front of him whisper, "You promised to ask me to make a movie, so you can't go back on your word. I'm waiting for your script." "No problem, just wait for me to come." Chen An, who was happy, nodded in agreement with a smile on his face.
After finishing speaking, Chen An walked to the microphone and said: "Thank you, thank you for your likes." "I would also like to thank the jury for presenting me with this important award, thank my teachers in China for their help, thank Director Han for his support, and thank everyone in the crew for their joint efforts. Without you, there would be no film. Finally, I would like to thank my investors for their support and for giving me so much money to shoot this film. Haha, thank you!" After saying that, he nodded, and at the host's signal, he helped Gong Li leave the stage. The awards continued to be presented, with the Grand Jury Prize going to "Fargo" and "Breaking the Waves", and the Palme d'Or going to "Secrets and Lies", which won the Best Actress award. Other Chinese-language films received no awards. The 49th Cannes International Film Festival came to a close. The interviews after the award ceremony were also held as scheduled. Chen An, who was standing in the middle, also happily accepted the interview, holding the Best Director award certificate in his hand. The large white paper was rolled up and tied with a red rope. Chen An, who was holding up the certificate with a smile on his face, was also photographed by the media present. The reporters asking questions below were more anxious than each other. Chen An selected them one by one, and the first ones he would definitely ask were domestic reporters. The reporter who was pointed out was very excited and said, "Hello, Director Chen, I am a reporter from China Youth Daily. I would like to ask you that you won the Best Director Award at the 49th Cannes Film Festival and are also the youngest winner. What do you want to say about this?" "I have to thank the judges of the Cannes Film Festival for not paying attention to my age and giving me the award." Chen An smiled and thanked the jury. The Taiwanese reporter who was called on asked in a very sarcastic tone: "Do you think that your winning of the Best Director Award this time will reduce the credibility of the Cannes Film Festival? After all, you are just a college student who has not yet graduated." Chen An mocked without hesitation: "Is the security here? Is the security here? Please drag this guy who speaks so rudely out!" This caused everyone present to burst into laughter. Then there were many foreign reporters, who also rushed to ask questions. A French reporter asked: "Director An-chen, will your film be shown in Europe?" "The copyright will be sold later, and it will most likely be released in Europe. I hope the audience will like this work." After answering, Chen An met the female reporter who had interviewed him at the premiere. Chen An also answered her interview again, but this time she didn't ask about the movie at all, but started talking about women's rights. Chen An could only give a compromise answer to this question, which was no different from what he said at the premiere. The interview lasted for more than half an hour before it ended. After finishing the interview, Chen An rushed to the celebration banquet hosted by Han Sanping. When the staff from Beijing Film Studio brought Chen An to the banquet, the banquet had not yet started. It didn't officially start until he arrived. The news of this award was immediately reported back to China after the interview! To be honest, I really couldn't find the previous Best Director trophy. I only found the Palme d'Or and the later Jury Grand Prix. The only photo of Director Hou was of him holding a certificate, and the trophy distribution was changed later. Ge Da Ge only had a certificate at the time, and Gong Li only held up a piece of paper when presenting the Jury Grand Prix at the awards ceremony.
(End of this chapter)