This director loves making friends.

After the premiere of "Oldboy," some reports in the festival's publication listed the film as one of the biggest favorites for this year's Golden Bear.

However, many media outlets believe that Qin Keqing is the best candidate for Best Director.

Another major characteristic of "Old Boys" is its strong authorial style, and many media outlets have called it the most classic "cult" film.

That's why it seems that Qin Keqing is particularly suitable for the Best Director award.

Lin Guobin and Ren Dahua were actually somewhat hesitant to even think about the Golden Bear Award.

It's not that I think "Old Boys" isn't good enough; if it weren't good enough, it wouldn't have been one of the biggest favorites for the Golden Bear.

Rather, this is the Berlin Film Festival, one of the three major European film festivals, not a Chinese film festival. Last year, two Chinese films won the Golden Bear, and the chances of another Chinese film winning the Golden Bear this year are very small.

Therefore, when the presenter announced that the Best Director award went to Krzysztof Kieslowski, director of "The White of the Three Colors Trilogy," neither Lin Guobin nor Ren Dahua could hide their disappointment.

In their view, this was the most likely prize to win tonight.

After all, Qin Keqing is a strong contender for this award.

"It's okay, there are still two awards to be announced."

Upon hearing that Qin Keqing hadn't won, Xu Jinglei couldn't help but turn her head and whisper to Qin Keqing.

Qin Keqing hadn't expected Xu Jinglei to comfort him like this. He smiled and said, "Well, maybe it will be an even bigger prize."

An even bigger prize?

Xu Jinglei was taken aback. What is an award even bigger than Best Director?

According to the official classification, the Grand Jury Prize is ranked second for Best Film, which is slightly better than Best Director. However, in reality, Best Director has a greater impact and provides more benefits to the director.

After all, everyone is focused on the first place; who cares which movie is the second best movie?

The terms "best" and "second best" seem to be contradictory.

"If 'Oldboys' can win a better award than Best Director, I..."

Xu Jinglei couldn't help but glance at Qin Keqing, and instantly recalled the day when Teacher Yu went into Director Qin's room and didn't come out all night.

"There's bound to be an even bigger prize!"

Xu Jinglei began to pray silently.

Next, the award presenters will come on stage. The Best Director award has already been presented; the Jury Special Award will be presented next.

During this period, the Berlin Film Festival's second most important award, before being renamed the Grand Jury Prize, was called the Jury or Special Jury Prize.

As for the different names "jury" or "jury".

In the official documents of the three major European film festivals, Cannes uses the French word "Juy," Berlin uses the German word "Juy," and Venice uses the Italian word "ua." Although the words share the same root, there are subtle differences in usage within their respective local contexts.

When introducing the term into Chinese translation, different translators and media outlets choose between two different translations: "jury" or "jury," and no absolutely unified standard has been formed.

The Special Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival is similar in nature to the Grand Jury Prizes at the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals, awarded to the second-best film.

"The recipient of the Jury's Special Award is..."

The award presenter opened the envelope, glanced at it, then looked at the audience, pausing particularly at Qin Keqing before smiling.

Qin Keqing was startled.

My heart started pounding rapidly.

He wasn't excited.

He was genuinely afraid that "Old Boys" would win the award.

Historically, "Oldboy" won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. If they win this award again after all the hard work they've put in, it will feel like all their efforts have been in vain.

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Qin Keqing was worried.

However, unlike Qin Keqing, Lin Guobin, Ren Dahua, and Xu Jinglei all became excited when they saw the award presenters' gaze linger on the "Old Boys" crew.

Even though Xu Jinglei was praying to win the grand prize just a moment ago, she would still be satisfied if she were given a special award from the jury.

"The Special Jury Prize goes to 'Strawberry and Chocolate' from Cuba. Congratulations to director Gutiérrez Aléa! Congratulations..."

"Splash splash splash..."

Applause erupted in the audience. It wasn't a surprise that "Strawberry and Chocolate" won the grand prize, considering it was one of the most popular films.

After all, it's Cuban and gay, and it's Cuba's first gay film, so the "buffs" are quite numerous.

Qin Keqing breathed a sigh of relief; at least it wasn't the jury's special award.

Xu Jinglei looked utterly disappointed.

Ren Dahua appeared somewhat disappointed.

Lin Guobin's complexion was also not good.

Lü Liangwei wasn't very happy either.

After the Special Jury Prizes were awarded, as is customary, only one major award remained: the Golden Bear for Best Film.

But now, not only did "Old Boys" fail to win any awards, but even "In the Name of the Father," which had even more "buffs" and was more popular than "Old Boys," also failed to win any awards.

Just considering that two Chinese-language films shared the Golden Bear award last year, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the probability of another Chinese-language film winning the Golden Bear this year is very small. How could Simon Yam and his colleagues not feel disappointed?

"It's okay, maybe...maybe this year's Golden Bear will be a tie."

Xu Jinglei comforted herself in her heart.

I thought the final award presenter tonight would be Moritz, but it turned out to be the Berlin Film Festival president.

He held an envelope in his hand, waved it at the guests below the stage, and said with a smile, "The next prize is a bit special; I will be the one to draw it."

"Splash splash splash..."

The guests gave them a round of applause.

Although it was a bit unexpected that the Golden Bear award was presented by the festival chairman himself tonight, it is understandable since it is the highest award.

"I just said that the next award is a bit special. Indeed, this award is a very special one tonight. It was only decided by the jury five minutes ago, which is why it is so special."

How special was it? Even the organizing committee hadn't prepared a presenter for this award beforehand; I had to go on stage myself. In other words, this was a very special award that exceeded the organizing committee's expectations.

Moritz's statement surprised everyone in the audience.

They were unaware of Moritz's remarks at the press conference after the red carpet event, nor of the "difficult birth" of this year's Golden Bear Award, so while they applauded enthusiastically, they were also moved by good intentions.

"This award is very special, but the jury can't create an award out of thin air. They can only choose one from the awards in the main competition. Therefore, the award I'm about to announce is the Jury Prize..."

As Moritz spoke, a buzzing sound filled the hall as the guests began to whisper among themselves.

Jury Prize!

Well, this award isn't a regular award at the Berlin Film Festival, but it's not really that hard to get or that prestigious.

This award has always been considered a somewhat special consolation prize.

Yes, a consolation prize.

Did the film festival chairman personally present the consolation prize?

That's certainly quite unique.