Millennium director

On February 14th, the weather was sunny and cloudless in Berlin.

Before two o'clock in the afternoon, a crowd of black crows was already standing outside the Berlin Film Palace, many of whom were media reporters with cameras and other shooting equipment.

And these people gathered outside the Berlin Film Palace this afternoon to attend the Berlin premiere of the Chinese film "Cai Wenji" who came all the way!

Tell me a little trivia.

Many people may not know this, but among the three major film festivals in Europe, the Cannes Film Festival is currently the most popular and has the most reprinted news and media reports.

But in fact, the Berlin Film Festival is the film festival that attracts the most audiences and tourists every year among the three major European film festivals.

Compared to Cannes, which is closed to the public, and Venice, which is isolated by the sea, the Berlin Film Festival is truly lively.

Approximately 15,000 professionals participate in the Berlin Film Festival every year, including 3,500 journalists from 76 different countries around the world. The number of participating audiences is more than 100,000 to hundreds of thousands, countless!

The 69th Berlin Film Festival will be held in 22 local venues in Berlin, with more than 50 movies premiering at the same time in one day!

Of course, the films that can have their premieres at the Cinema Palace are undoubtedly the ones that get the most attention.

Although the Film Palace is not the cinema in Berlin that can accommodate the largest audience, and even ranks third in terms of the number of audiences it can accommodate, its status is undoubtedly the highest.

For example, Wang Quanan's "Dinosaur Egg" did not get the chance to premiere at the Berlin Film Palace.

After all, the Berlin Film Palace can only premiere 10 films during the entire film week, one per day, and there are as many as 17 films shortlisted for the main competition unit alone. The opening film and the closing film have to be removed, leaving Films in the main competition have even fewer opportunities to premiere.

Of course, no matter how fierce the competition for this opportunity is, Zhang Yimou will definitely be qualified to premiere at the Film Palace, and it will also be scheduled in the second half of the film week. It is one of the most valued films at this Berlin International Film Festival.

The organizing committee attaches great importance to it, and the various media and film critics who came to watch the competition at this Berlin Film Festival will naturally also attach great importance to it.

At least more than 3,000 people gathered outside the 1,627-seat Berlin Film Palace. Half of them were unable to get movie tickets for the premiere of "Cai Wenji" today, but they still held long guns and short cannons to capture everyone who came. Guests attending the premiere of "Cai Wenji".

At this time, the main creators of the "Cai Wenji" crew were also at the entrance of the movie palace, entertaining guests who were specially invited to watch the movie.

Mainly other film crews shortlisted for the main competition, as well as some influential film critics, program representatives, and most importantly, film producers and distributors from all over the world.

Fortunately, Wu Yuan does not need to do such social things. After all, he is not the main creator of the "Cai Wenji" crew.

At this time, he was sitting leisurely in the second row of the movie palace, quietly waiting for the premiere event to officially begin.

In the dim screening room, even though most of the audience members who had already entered were industry insiders who were very knowledgeable about world cinema and knew Wu Yuan, no one noticed that this Asian man sitting low-key in the second row actually It’s the internationally famous director Daniel Wu!

Until the movie palace was full of people, and when more than 1,600 seats were occupied, Zhang Yimou led the crew and creators to the front of the stage.

The Berlin premiere of "Cai Wenji" officially begins!

"Thank you. I didn't expect so many people to come to watch the premiere of our "Cai Wenji"."

Holding the microphone and standing in front of the stage, Zhang Yimou still looked shy. Wu Yuan even saw a hint of nervousness in him, and he didn't know if he had seen it wrong.

"The last time I came to Berlin was nine years ago. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye."

"I thought European audiences had forgotten about me."

There was a teasing smile on Zhang Yimou's face, but his words did come from the heart.

The last time he came to the Berlin Film Festival was in 2010 with "Love at the Hawthorn Tree". At that time, "Love at the Hawthorn Tree" was shortlisted for the New Era section of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.

Well, I was not shortlisted for the main competition unit.

If we go back further, the last time he was shortlisted for the three major European competitions was the film "My Father and Mother" directed in 1999.

Coincidentally, "My Father and Mother" was also shortlisted for the Berlin International Film Festival that year, and eventually won the Silver Bear Award, the Jury Prize at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival.

It can only be said that he and the Berlin International Film Festival are really destined.

In the blink of an eye, almost 20 years later, Zhang Yimou was once again shortlisted for the Berlin International Film Festival.

Standing in front of the stage, facing thousands of pairs of eyes staring at him, Zhang Yimou felt countless emotions welling up in his heart.

Although he has been transitioning into commercial films for many years, Zhang Yimou is still a director with a background in artistic films!

The hand holding the microphone trembled slightly. Zhang Yimou, who had planned thousands of words, had all his "remarks" stuck in his chest, and finally only condensed them into one sentence: "This is my first time making a biographical movie."

"I hope everyone will like this movie."

Even though he is about to turn 70, Zhang Yimou still dares to try new fields and challenge new themes!

Wu Yuan, who was sitting quietly in the audience, looked at the introverted and shy Zhang Yimou, with the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

Perhaps this is why Zhang Yimou is called the national master, and why he is still the top director in China when all other directors of the same period have fallen behind.

Zhang Yimou's attitude towards movies is indeed worthy of the word "national master".

Well, it would be better if there was no "Man Jiang Hong"!

However, Zhang Yimou, who has already devoted his life to the era of light and shadow, can't go to shoot "Man Jiang Hong" again, right?

It's not that "Man Jiang Hong" is not good, but that a high-profile director like Zhang Yimou went to shoot such a movie that was not worthy of him in terms of plot construction, historical background processing, and publicity strategy. It was indeed a failure among failures, which disappointed the audience's expectations.

Just like Wu Yuan went to shoot a low-cost comedy.

If you want to shoot, you should really shoot a historical blockbuster about the rise of Yue Fei!

Wu Yuan muttered to himself for a while, and when he came back to his senses, he found that Zhang Yimou's speech had already ended, and Liu Yifei and Yu Hewei, the male and female protagonists, had also simply greeted the guests on the scene.

The main creators of the "Cai Wenji" crew have all come to the first row and sat down. Under the expectation of more than 1,600 guests and audiences, the lights in the movie palace slowly fell and the big screen began to light up.

This movie from the mysterious East, which tells the ups and downs of the life of a talented woman in ancient Chinese history, unveiled its veil in Berlin! (End of this chapter)