Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

So here's the question:

Which is more important, the Silver Bear or the Golden Bear for Best Actress?

It has to be the latter. Putting aside the overall support, this opportunity is really rare. No one expected that the betting company would pull off this crazy move.

Winning an award for Best Actress is easy, but achieving a Grand Slam is rare.

On February 10th, "Hearing Girl" premiered in Berlin, where it received a high score of 3.4 from Screen Daily, once again topping the charts.

The film's quality brought a sigh of relief to many. Although it was confirmed that the Golden Bear would be awarded, they were still worried that it might not live up to the honor. Fortunately, the special group in "Hearing Girl" is politically correct in the current European system.

Zhuang Huai'an originally planned to tell Liu Yifei about the deal, but after thinking about it, he decided against it.

Keeping the girl looking forward to the award can also motivate her performance.

Time slipped away amidst various social engagements, and the deal with Leo was cancelled. He would have to show his sincerity when they met again in Cannes.

Zhuang Huai'an won again this time.

The film festival will close on the 19th.

The special correspondent from the Sixth Princess followed and filmed the entire process. Many people in the country discussed on various forums whether Zhuang Huai'an could win the Golden Bear this time. There were all sorts of speculations and opinions, but little did they know that the deal had already been completed.

News always gets known first to a select few.

In addition to "The Hearing Girl," the Chinese-language films nominated for the main competition this year include "Isabella" from Hong Kong and "Little Red Flowers" by Zhang Yuan from mainland China.

It has to be said that Asian films have been quite favored by the three major film organizations in recent years, and even the jury members include two Asians.

Lee Young-ae, the South Korean actress who just won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her role in "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance," became a sensation across Asia with her role in "Dae Jang Geum," and at one point rose to the top of the list of South Korean actresses.

Another is Yash Chopra, a director from India. He is one of the founders of Bollywood, known as the father of Bollywood romance films and the originator of Bollywood musicals.

His son, Aditiya Chopra, is also a director, and even surpassed his father in talent. His film "Love on the Road" was a hit for over 20 years, and many mainland Chinese students later used the songs in the film as a code to communicate with Indian students.

Chain reaction: Ah Kei, the laborer~

This song is jokingly called "The Bride Got Married, But the Groom Isn't Me" by netizens, but its actual translated title is "Burning Love," and it's not a sad love song.

The awards ceremony continued.

"Little Red Flowers" won the Panorama Award for Innovation, a rather unremarkable award, while "Isabella" won Best Original Score and a small Silver Bear.

The Best Actor award went to Moritz Bledo for "Elementary Particles," while the Best Director award was split between Michael Winterbottom and Matt Whitecross, co-directors of "The Road to Guantanamo."

The Best Actress award went to Sandra Hüller for "Requiem," which Zhuang Huai'an believes was the best film at this year's Berlin Film Festival. He thinks it should have won the Golden Bear if things were fair.

But the world is inherently unfair.

Liu Yifei showed no sign of sadness, but looked at the silver bear with a hint of longing in her eyes.

The Grand Jury Prize, the Silver Bear, was won by a tie again, with the two films being "Offside" and "Grbavica".

Among the most popular tracks, only "Hearing Girl" failed to win any awards.

This drew everyone's attention to Zhuang Huai'an, and many people began to breathe rapidly, clearly indicating he was a gambling addict.

Before the Golden Bear award was announced, jury chair Charlotte Rampling took the stage to give a speech. The legendary British actress spoke with elegance and eloquence, praising all the various film crews present before opening her cue cards and reading them aloud.

"The winner of the Golden Bear at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival is..."

Rampling paused slightly, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, his heart filled with bitterness.

"Before that, please allow me to say a few more words,"

Rampling composed himself, scanned the audience, and said, "In the 100-year history of film art, many geniuses have been born, but the next one, I would call the shining jewel in Queen Elizabeth's crown."

At this point, the audience understood and their gazes were fixed on Zhuang Huai'an, who remained calm. He was the only one who could command the chairman of the judging panel to personally carry his sedan chair.

The film that won the Golden Bear this year is *An*, the hearing girl!

The stage erupted in applause in an instant, and many gamblers collapsed to the ground, their faces ashen.

The entire cast and crew of "Hearing Girl" jumped up excitedly, and Luo Jin waved his arms vigorously, shouting "Awesome!"

Xie Yuan clapped his hands and laughed, while Jiang Wenli's face flushed.

Liu Yifei looked proud, her eyes sparkling. "Look, this is my little cabbage!"

Zhuang Huai'an remained calm inside, but still pretended to be excited, trying to make the performance seem flawless.

The online gaming company set up the stage, so he had to give them face.

After getting up and hugging everyone, Zhuang Huai'an buttoned up his shirt and walked steadily onto the podium, while Lampling's voice continued.

Before tonight, only three directors in the history of cinema had achieved the European Grand Slam: French director Henri George Clouzot, Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, and American director Robert Altman!

The first two have a long history and different rules. The most recent director of Ultraman took 23 years from his first Palme d'Or to his last Golden Lion Award, while An only took 4 years!

Let's congratulate this talented director once again!

Amidst enthusiastic applause, Zhuang Huai'an accepted the Golden Bear trophy from Rampling, gave the elegant lady a cheek kiss, then turned and walked to the microphone, looking at the audience.

"Thank you to the film festival, thank you to the organizing committee for their recognition, thank you to the fans for their support, thank you to the entire crew for their hard work, thank you to my alma mater, the best art school in the world, Beijing Film Academy, and finally thank you to my father, Mr. Zhuang Kaixuan, and my leading lady, Ms. Liu Yifei."

After a standard thank-you speech, Zhuang Huai'an raised the trophy, looked at it, and continued.

"In 2002, I went to Cannes with my debut films, The Tuner and The Hunt. At the time, I was just an ordinary freshman in college. Perhaps the gears of fate started turning from that moment."

In the same year, "The Seaside Town" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. At that time, I thought that Lady Luck had smiled upon me again.

In 2003, I came to Berlin for the first time and won the Silver Bear for Best Director for "Gone Girl". The following year, I won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and the Silver Bear for Best Director for "Detachment" in Berlin.

In 2004, I went to Cannes again and won the Palme d'Or with Parasite. After that, many media outlets said that I had completed most of my journey and were predicting how long it would take me to complete the Grand Slam of the three major gold medals.

But I've always felt that the Grand Slam is not a label to boast about one's resume, but a long test of one's creative ability. I don't want to deliberately cater to the tastes of film festivals just because I've won awards. I just want to continue making films that can touch people's hearts, just like before. So, this film, "The Hearing Girl," came about.

This film tells the story of family affection, understanding and reconciliation in a silent world. It has no intense conflicts or grand narratives, only the simplest companionship, struggle and growth.

I want to capture the tenderness that is easily overlooked, the helplessness of families with hearing impairments, and the choices that young girls face between family and dreams.

I've always believed that the best movies are never about deliberately creating drama, but about laying bare the emotions hidden in ordinary people's hearts, allowing everyone to see themselves in them.

Thank you everyone. I'm director Zhuang Huai'an, a lucky person. My story has only just begun. I'll write it slowly, and you can read it slowly.

Zhuang Huai'an took two steps back, raised the trophy, and revealed a big smile.

The applause from the audience continued to thunder, and many people's slight dissatisfaction disappeared after listening to this sincere speech.

With the healing trilogy preceding it, followed by the realistic "Parasite," the realistic "Gone Girl," and the realistic "Love in a Bouquet," even the short film "Andhadhun" is hailed as the Mount Everest of short films.

Which director who makes it into the three main competition sections doesn't have some talent?

But compared to his previous movies, I still feel a sense of powerlessness; he's just too good at fighting.

Moreover, most people in this world enjoy hearing stories of young people achieving fame and success with great enthusiasm.

Because that was also what they themselves once longed for.

But with the helplessness of life and the erosion of time, it was slowly covered up.

Dreams or bread?