Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 249 Guaranteed Prize
There is no doubt that the premiere of "Sissi's Dog" was a great success, and the film was well received by audiences.

After the premiere, Hu Xiaobei gave numerous interviews to reporters, responding to the theme of the film and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the filming process.

The film will have five public screenings during the Berlin Film Festival, including a special screening for film critics.

Due to the great success of the premiere, many film companies have come to discuss purchasing the copyright.

The price offered was decent, but it fell far short of his requirements.

Now that it has entered the main competition and is loved by the audience, why not wait a little longer?

If a film wins an award at the Berlin Film Festival, it can fetch a good price.

After all, the cost is not high, and he can afford to wait and lose money in such a short time.

Due to the remarkable success of "Sissi's Dog", Hu Xiaobei was invited to participate in the "Directors Forum" and exchanged creative ideas with a group of international directors, including Michael Winterbottom.

An Xiaoqian also participated in the "Women Actors Roundtable Conference," where she discussed the portrayal of female characters on screen with other actresses.

In addition, Hu Xiaobei, through official arrangements of the film festival, had an informal meeting with jury president Charlotte Rampling and other jury members to introduce the background of the film's creation.

In fact, he had considered various ways to increase the film's chances of winning awards.

For example, through dialogue activities, we can explain the deep logic of Chinese family ethics to international counterparts and reduce cultural barriers.

An Xiaoqian was arranged to have a one-on-one lunch with a member of the jury (actress Charlotte Rampling) to share details of the film character creation process.

They submitted an academic analysis report of the film to the jury, emphasizing its innovative value in "breaking the Eastern and Western pet narrative framework," and so on.

But after careful consideration, he abandoned these ideas.

(P.S.: The Berlin Film Festival does not explicitly prohibit jury members from dining and socializing with directors and actors in the main competition. However, to ensure the impartiality and independence of the judging process, jury members generally act cautiously and avoid excessive private contact with the participants. This maintains an appropriate distance to ensure the fairness and transparency of the judging process.)
In his view, these were nothing more than underhanded tricks that, while indeed useful, would easily give others cause for criticism if reported by the media.

His and An Xiaoqian's first international award must not be obtained through such means. (PS: Except for the Oscars)

Therefore, while ensuring the film's high quality, the only option left is to suppress it with overwhelming force.

Hu Xiaobei had already commissioned The Film Agency, a professional film festival public relations company, to develop a series of media exposure plans for the film, enough to cover mainstream European film critics.

He spent eight million RMB on advertising for this.

Not only will various media outlets vie to report on the event, but the exhibition will also feature various promotional souvenirs from the movie "Sissi's Dog" that will be flown in and given away.

This is perfectly reasonable and in line with the proper practices of film copyright management; no one can find fault with it.

However, the films that generally participate in film festivals tend to be more artistic, and most directors are already doing very well to get funding to make a film.

It's practically impossible to get investors to put more money into helping the director manage the awards.

The movie "Sissi's Dog" is different; Hu Xiaobei has enough funds to invest in the film's publicity and promotion.

The effect of this approach was obvious: with planned promotion and the film's extremely high quality, the popularity of "Sissi's Dog" soared.

Just three days after its premiere, the film's acquisition price by distributors has doubled or tripled, with the total acquisition price for the copyright reaching $385 million.

Moreover, with the film's growing reputation and the support of media opinion, this price is far from its limit.

In Hu Xiaobei's opinion, "Sissi's Dog" received three nominations and will win at least one award.

This certainty is based on a comprehensive analysis of China's growing international influence and the past performance of Chinese films at the Berlin Film Festival.

From Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" winning the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 38th Film Awards in 1988 to Gu Changwei's "Peacock" winning the Silver Bear Jury Prize in 2005.

(PS: Red Sorghum is the first Chinese-language film to win the Golden Bear Award and the first Chinese-language film to win the highest award at one of the three major European film festivals.)

Chinese films began their long journey of expansion at the Berlin Film Festival, and have won more than 20 awards of various kinds.

On average, they win at least one Berlin Film Festival award every year.

Especially in the 1990s, the Berlin Film Festival had Chinese judges almost every year.

However, after 2000, its strength seemed to weaken somewhat.

In the original timeline, the Hong Kong film "Isabella" received two nominations: the Golden Bear and Best Music, ultimately winning the Silver Bear for Best Film Music.

Coincidentally, the main character of this movie is also a dog. However, the quality of this movie is far inferior to that of "Sissi's Dog," and there is absolutely no comparison between them.

Because of the sudden emergence of "Sissi's Dog", this film did not receive any more nominations and was not even able to participate in the Berlin Film Festival.

In other words, the only Chinese film currently qualified to compete for various awards in the main competition section of the Berlin Film Festival is "Sissi's Dog".

Let's look at the award information for the 2006 Berlin Film Festival in the original timeline.

Main competition segment:
Best Film Golden Bear: Gbavica, directed by Jasmila Zbanic, produced in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, and Croatia.

The Grand Jury Silver Bear: Soap, directed by Pernele Fischer, Denmark/Sweden; Offside, directed by Jafar Panahi, Iran.

Silver Bear for Best Director: Guantanamo Road, directed by Michael Winterbottom and Matt Whitecruz, United Kingdom.

Silver Bear for Best Actor: Moritz Bleidau, *Elementary Particles*, Germany.

Silver Bear for Best Actress: Sandra Hüller, Requiem, Germany.

Silver Bear for Best Original Film Score: Peter Kam, Isabella, Hong Kong Island Film.

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement: "Free Will", directed by Matthias Grassner, Germany.

Best First Feature Film: Soap, directed by Pernelle Fisher, Denmark/Sweden.

Alfred Award (Fighting Spirit Award): The Guardians, directed by Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina/Spain/Germany.

Best Picture (Golden Bear) (Short Film): "Never Like The First Time", directed by Jonas Odell.

The Grand Jury Silver Bear (Short Film) was awarded to: "Penpusher" (directed by Guillaume Martinez) and "Dream Paradise" (directed by Jane Kester).

Special Mention Award: "The Day I Died", directed by Maryam Keshavarz.

Honorary Golden Bear (Lifetime Achievement Award): Ivan McClane, Andrzej Wajda.

In addition, there are panoramic units, which I won't list one by one.

Data analysis shows that Asian films account for a very small percentage, with European films and German films making up the majority.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Berlin International Film Festival was already considered one of the three major European film festivals, alongside Cannes and Venice, and was committed to becoming the most important international film festival.

When a country with significant influence participates in a film festival, regardless of the reasons, as long as it's not too bad and has some merit, the festival organizers will always try to award it an prize.

That's why Chinese filmmakers were so actively involved in major film festivals during a certain period.

Because it's not just Chinese cinema that needs the honors from these international film festivals.

Similarly, these international film festivals are eager for Chinese films to participate in their events.

Only through such a two-way exchange can both sides benefit and expand their respective influence.

Moreover, Hu Xiaobei also invested 800 million RMB in advertising and promotion.

Therefore, they must win at least one of the three awards at the Berlin Film Festival.

Of course, if you're lucky, you might get two or three.

In Hu Xiaobei's mind, if he doesn't win the Best Music Award or the Best Actress Award...

Therefore, "Sissi's Dog" is bound to win the Golden Bear for Best Film.

If she won the worst music award, then An Xiaoxi could at least win a Best Actress award.

Hu Xiaobei has no obsession or ambition to win the Berlin Golden Bear.

In comparison, he would prefer that An Xiaoxi win the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival.

PS: The author's notes in chapters 249-250 address whether or not a nomination was made.

Rather than blindly following others, I trust the results of my own research, summarization, and analysis more.

(End of this chapter)