Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 327 A stroke of good luck

The next morning, a light snow fell sporadically in the capital city in the early hours of the morning. The snow in the sky had not yet melted, and a thin layer of frost had accumulated on both sides of the streets.

As the sun gradually rose, the distant clock tower was outlined as a golden silhouette in the mist.

People were already reading the morning newspaper under the bus stop sign; the smell of ink mixed with the chill of the first snowfall was particularly refreshing.

"Black Peony" receives four Oscar nominations!

These bold, large characters were printed on the front pages of major entertainment sections and the culture sections of art media, each word like thunder, as if still carrying the aftershocks of last night.

Some students who got up early had already bought several breakfasts from the newsstand and were standing by the roadside discussing them.

At the end of Xitucheng Road, the Beijing Film Academy is even more bustling than the outside.

Two banners fluttered in the wind at the school gate, red background with gold lettering, reading:

"Warmest congratulations to Wu Chen, a student from the 2007 class of the Photography Department, for his film 'Black Peony' which received four nominations at the 80th Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director."

Warmest congratulations to Liu Yifei, a 2002 graduate of the Performance Academy, for being nominated for Best Actress at the 80th Academy Awards!

A large crowd gathered in front of the school bulletin board. Although the students already knew about it last night, they still squeezed together in twos and threes, looking at the red list of four nominations for "Black Peony" with their eyes filled with undisguised excitement and envy.

"When will Wu Chen's 'The Martian' be casting? I want to try my luck."

"Your luck is definitely better than the odds of winning the lottery!"

"Hahaha"

"."

Some people laughed and chatted, while others silently sipped their hot soy milk through their straws, staring blankly at the list.

Meanwhile, the Central Academy of Drama, a few kilometers away, appeared much quieter.

In the old tea room of the performing arts department, the stove was burning brightly. Several senior professors sat around it, holding purple clay teapots in their hands, but their expressions were not relaxed. They would stare at each other from time to time and sigh.

While one's own defeat is certainly terrible, the opponent's success is even more disheartening.

"Did no one from the school next door call yesterday?" Chang Li asked slowly when the others remained silent.

“No.” A male professor wearing black-rimmed reading glasses shook his head and continued, his voice dry, “Very quiet, unlike them.”

This made everyone feel even worse.

Both sides have been showing off to each other for a long time; it's a tradition. I never expected that this tradition would be broken today.

The other party actually stopped showing off.

"They got incredibly lucky," someone muttered under their breath.

"Who can argue with that? It's extremely rare for a Best Foreign Language Film to break through language barriers and enter other major award categories, and for Beijing Film Academy to snag one is truly remarkable. Wu Chen is a real gem."

"."

The group exchanged glances and were all convinced.

Over the past few decades, there have been very few Best Foreign Language Films nominated for other major awards, and even fewer classic examples.

Going back further, excluding "Black Peony," there are only eight films, four of which are too far removed from the 1970s and are all old films.

A slightly more recent example is "The Postman" from 1996, which was not nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, but received five nominations including Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture.

Secondly, there was "Life Is Beautiful" in 1998, an Italian film. It was truly moving and was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. In the end, it won both the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor awards.

In 2000, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was the most outstanding film, receiving ten nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.

Then came the 2006 Mexican film, *Pan's Labyrinth*, which received three additional technical nominations but no major awards.

This nomination is truly exceptional.

At this moment, even the headline on the front page of the China Film News was prominently displayed:
[Once in eight years, Chinese-language films meet the Oscars again: "Black Peony" breaks through cultural barriers, winning four nominations, a historic achievement for mainland China!] This headline from the front page of the China Film News has been quoted and reposted by many media outlets, pointing out that since "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," this is the first time a Chinese-language film has broken through language barriers and entered the mainstream Oscar awards arena with a "non-English" work.

Meanwhile, The New York Times published a commentary in its Arts and Culture section with the striking title: "From Peonies to Oscars: Chinese Directors Shocking the Academy."

The article quotes a statement from Oscar judge and Hollywood producer Linda Obbs:

"I rarely see so many cultural languages ​​superimposed in a single film: Black Peony blends psychological thriller, classical stage, female struggle, and Eastern imagery."

Wu's directing style is unlike Scorsese's, or Li An's; he's more like a director on stage, with the camera merely a borrowed pair of hands.

The article also quoted an anonymous comment from an unnamed judge:

"What we are seeing is not just an excellent foreign language film, but a completely new possibility for directorial language."

Foreign media outlets reported on it extensively, with even French publications like Cahiers du Cinéma and Screen magazine publishing special reviews, which were subsequently cited repeatedly by numerous mainland Chinese media outlets.

Film critics and experts have all jumped into the fray, offering everything from incisive analyses of director Wu Chen's language to passionate and fervent praise, as well as analyses and cynical critiques of this year's Oscar nominations.

When Wu Chen saw these reports, he was slightly taken aback.

He paused briefly and dialed Linda Obbs's number.

“Wu, you saw the report?” Linda Obs replied cheerfully. “I just did an interview with The New York Times, and they asked me to comment on this year’s Oscar nominees, and yours happened to be one of them.”

Unfortunately, during the nomination stage, I could only cast my vote for you in Best Picture, but you didn't win in the end. The branch nomination limited too many possibilities.

She actually hopes that Wu Chen can be nominated for more awards and win more awards, as this will only benefit future projects.

Unfortunately, the Oscar nomination process only allows for branch voting, with nominations for "Best Director" in the Directors branch and "Original/Adapted Screenplay" in the Screenwriters branch.
She belongs to the producers branch, responsible for voting for Best Picture nominations.

Only in the final competition stage will all the judges break down professional barriers and participate in the selection of each award.

"Thank you!" Wu Chen smiled.

"By the way, are you writing the project script yet?"

"Of course, this script is a huge project, and we will need to assemble a team of scientific advisors later."

Linda Aubus was not surprised that Wu Chen was going to assemble a team of scientific advisors, because that's exactly what a science fiction film should be doing.

"Interstellar. The title sounds pretty good. I hope the story comes out soon."

After hanging up the phone, Linda Aubus squinted slightly as she pondered the final name of Wu Chenqi's project.

Meanwhile, the villa was warm and cozy.

Wu Chen's phone rang incessantly early in the morning, as did Liu Yifei's.

Liu Yifei was walking barefoot on the fluffy carpet, pacing back and forth while answering the phone: "Teacher, I can't. I really can't."

Wu Chen had just hung up the phone with Linda Aubus when he heard Liu Yifei repeatedly declining the call.

He was a little curious about which teacher from the Beijing Film Academy had called, but judging from Liu Yifei's expression, it was most likely Wang Jinsong's call.

"I don't speak very well, so you'd be better off letting Wu Chen speak on stage. He speaks much better." Liu Yifei blinked and cautiously glanced at Wu Chen.

As Wu Chen listened, he heard Liu Yifei preparing to assign him a task, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Hehe. Yes, yes, teacher!"

Liu Yifei nodded, hung up the phone, tossed it aside, plopped down barefoot on the sofa, and snuggled up next to Wu Chen, acting coquettishly:
"Oh, it's all right in the end. It's just that Professor Wang asked me to go back to school to give a speech, but I don't know how. That's why I pushed you along. But Professor Wang said that it's not suitable for you since you're from the photography department, so we'll put this on hold for now."

"Aren't you usually quite talkative?" Wu Chen said knowingly, with a hint of teasing in his tone. "What, so all you can do with your tongue is babble on and on to me?"

"What blah blah blah!" Liu Yifei threw a pillow at him, but her face flushed slightly. She leaned closer, half coquettish and half angry, "That's a special channel just for you! Nobody else gets this treatment."

(End of this chapter)