Chapter 3 Winning the Prize
The first non-competitive unit, forum and other awards were won by several foreign directors, whose names Gu Wei had never even heard of.

Next was the children's unit, where the best short films were awarded.

Finally, with the appearance of the chairman of the jury, it was time for the highlight of the night, the presentation of the main competition unit grand prize.

Once again, welcome everyone to Berlin to attend the awards ceremony of this year's film festival. Over the past ten days, the jury has voted in the most fair and just manner for each work, and will now present the final awards to everyone.

At first, it was this year's European Best Film Award, which was won by a German director.

Shortly afterwards, Italian and Swiss directors won the Best Film Music and Best Screenplay awards respectively.

Awards for Best Photography and Fine Arts followed.

As the awards were presented one by one, Gu Wei felt the people around him breathing faster and staring at the podium with shining eyes.

"The Silver Bear Award of this year's film festival is won by "Italian Language Class". Congratulations to director Basil Safi."

There was warm applause from the audience. A middle-aged man stood up, hugged the people around him, and walked towards the podium.

“Congratulations to “Seventeen Years Old Bicycle”.”

"Congratulations to "Love You Love Me"."

The two films won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize and the Silver Bear Best Director Award. Director Wang Xiaoshuai from China and Director Lin Zhengsheng from Taiwan took turns to go on stage to receive the awards.

The Silver Bear for Best Actor and Best Actress was won by Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro and British actor Kerry Fox.

Gu Wei felt Yu Nan beside him sigh and turned to look at her.

"I'm fine, Director Gu. I'm very happy to be in Berlin. The Best Film Award Ceremony will begin soon. I think our film has great potential."

After the best actor and actress received their trophies and gave their speeches, the jury continued to present the awards.

Several movie clips flashed on the big screen at the podium, including "Tuya's Wedding".

"The winner of the Best Film Award at this year's film festival is."

"'Tuya Wedding', congratulations to the Chinese director Weigu, congratulations."

Gu Wei didn't feel how he walked onto the podium. He only heard the words "Tuya's Wedding" and then his brain went into a daze. He pinched his thigh, feeling it was unreal.

He took the trophy with both hands, and then the presenter handed him the microphone, stepped back and gave him the stage.

"I really can't believe it. I'm still in a state of confusion."

After saying this on the podium, Gu Wei paused.

Suddenly, there was warm applause from the audience.

“I am Gu Wei, a director from China. This is my first time to present awards at a film festival. This is also my first film. I am very grateful to the jury for giving me the Best Film award. Thank you.

Here I would also like to thank my crew, Ms. Yu Nan, my alma mater, the Beijing Film Academy, for their training and support, and my parents, who nurtured me. Thanks again to the jury, thank you all! ”

After saying this, he bowed to the audience.

The applause rang out like a tide, and the audience stood up and applauded.

Holding the trophy in his hand, Gu Wei returned to his seat with a little weak legs.

"Let's give a round of applause to Director Weigu again. He is only 19 years old this year."

The host smiled and said to Gu Wei who was holding the trophy.

There was another round of applause from the audience, and everyone turned their eyes to him. A young Golden Bear Award-winning director was born.

As the news of the Golden Bear Award came out, it was almost two o'clock in the morning in China. News from the Berlin Film Festival began to occupy various portals and media. Many staff members were woken up by their leaders just after they lay down, and worked overtime to write news articles.

As soon as Gu Wei and the crew arrived at the hotel, the domestic morning news and morning newspapers began to report on the awards won by "Tuya's Wedding" and "Seventeen Years Old Bicycle".

The next day, Gu Wei and the person in charge of Guangxian went to meet with major film producers.

On the way there, Gu Wei and the person in charge of Guangxian discussed the quotes from European and North American film distributors in recent days, and they all agreed that the copyright fee for "Tuya's Wedding" should at least double, or even several times. This is the benefit brought by the Golden Bear Award, both fame and fortune.

After a day of negotiation, buyers from all regions in China were confirmed. The price offered by Europe was the highest, reaching 5 million US dollars, which was three times the quotation from the previous few days. The price offered by North America was more than 4 million US dollars. The total price of the two regions was nearly 10 million US dollars.

Combined with quotations from other regions, the copyright buyout fee for "Tuya's Wedding" reached 12.7 million US dollars, which is equivalent to nearly 93 million RMB.

No wonder domestic directors like to go to major film festivals to sell copyrights. Even if the movie doesn’t win an award, the copyright won’t be a loss. Once it wins an award, the profit will be dozens of times.

"If China Film Group knew the profits of this movie, they would probably regret it to death," Gu Wei thought to himself.

With an investment of three million, the copyright was sold for more than ninety million, a thirty-fold profit, and most importantly, a Golden Bear trophy, which was what Gu Wei valued most.

"We can get the screening permit once we get back. And with this trophy, the domestic box office will surely be good." The person in charge of Guangxian said to Gu Wei.

"We'll go back once the contract is signed and the copyright fee is paid," Gu Wei said happily.

After returning to the hotel, Gu Wei heard that the copyright of "The Bicycle Thief" had been negotiated. It would definitely make money, but not as much as "Tuya's Wedding".

After staying in Berlin until the 25th and finalizing the follow-up matters of buying out the copyright, Gu Wei and his party boarded the plane back to China. He put the Golden Bear trophy in a box. This was his biggest gain since coming to Berlin. Even if he only had this trophy, it would be enough for him to live on for the rest of his life.

It was already one o'clock in the morning when the plane arrived in the capital. Gu Wei did not return to school, but stayed in the hotel arranged by Guangguang. Just as he had packed up and was about to lie down, he received a call from the person in charge of Guangguang.

As soon as he arrived at the door of the hotel private room, a middle-aged man stood up and walked up to him, shook his hand and said, "Director Gu is really young and promising. You have worked hard on this journey. Please come in and let's eat and chat."

Gu Wei didn't expect that Wang Changtian, as the boss of a film media company, had been waiting for him.

The next day, Gu Wei got up and looked at his phone. It was almost noon.

I didn't expect Mr. Wang from Guangxian to be so talkative. They chatted in the private room until almost dawn. It was only after Gu Wei yawned several times in succession that Mr. Wang let him go back to the room to rest.

After washing up and opening the door, the waiter at the door invited him to the restaurant. He ate something casually and prepared to go back to school.

The person in charge of Guangxian originally planned to let him stay in the hotel for a few more days, but Gu Wei directly refused, got in the car provided by Guangxian, and rushed to the school.

On the way, he received a text message from Director Xie of the school's directing department, asking him to bring the trophy back to school and take a photo as a souvenir. Gu Wei had just bought a mobile phone before going to Berlin, and only a few people around him knew the number. As soon as he replied to the message, he saw a call from an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, Director Gu?"

"The hotel staff told me that you have returned to school. Why don't you stay in the hotel for a few more days?"

When Gu Wei heard this, he knew it was Wang Changtian calling.

"The school director asked me to go back today. I will go to Guangxian to visit Mr. Wang in two days."

Gu Wei rejected the proposal of Mr. Wang from Guangxian and decided to go back to school first.

About half an hour later, the car arrived at the destination and Gu Wei got off at the school gate.

Soon, the reporters who were waiting at the school gate surrounded him, holding microphones and recorders, and asked all kinds of questions. Gu Wei had no choice but to answer a few questions.

Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, the reporter still did not let him in. It was not easy for Gu Wei to force his way in with his suitcase because his "treasure" was in the suitcase. The security guard at the door saw this scene and could not drive him away, so he secretly walked into the school.

After a while, the deputy director of the directing department brought several teachers to "escort" Gu Wei into the school.

Along the way, he joked, "You are famous now. As soon as you came back, you were surrounded by reporters."

Several teachers nearby were laughing.

"Director, please stop joking with me. No matter how famous I am, I am still a student of Beijing Film Academy and a soldier under your command."

Director Xie did not let Gu Wei go back to the dormitory directly, but took him to the director's office first. After a while, news came from the school that Director Jin Xiong had arrived at the school.

In the office, several teachers asked Gu Wei to hold the trophy in his hands and started posing for photos.

"The school plans to have you hold a report meeting in the auditorium in a few days, to report to department leaders and students. How about that? This is a high standard, isn't it? Haha."

A senior from the Photography Department was taking photos nearby, and other teachers who rushed over also took photos.

The head of the directing department said happily, thinking that the directing department report would be easier to write this year, and that more funds from the department should be applied for.

Of course, this was also because he was not wrong about Gu Wei. He did not expect that this kid would give him such a big surprise. He could say that he had a good eye for talent, and the director of the directing department was very happy.

Gu Wei returned to the dormitory and found no one there. He put down his luggage and left the trophy in the directing department office on the grounds that it would be kept by the directing department first, and other leaders and teachers would come over later to take photos.

In the evening, when the roommates came back from class, they were very reserved when they met. Well, Gu Wei had gone out and won the Berlin Golden Bear Award, an award only for big domestic directors. The identities and status of both parties had changed. Others, including Jiang Zhenggang, with whom he had a good relationship, did not dare to speak casually in front of him.

"Noticing these details, Gu Wei did not speak. The few of them chatted casually for a few minutes, then lay on the bed and picked up their phones to browse domestic portal websites.

There were reports online of him returning to school and being surrounded at the school gate, as well as photos of him pulling a suitcase. Gu Wei had to admire the efficiency of the media staff.

The next morning, Gu Wei greeted his teacher, rented a place near the school, paid the rent, and asked the decoration team to move in and start decorating right away. After a busy day, he finally set up the studio.

Subsequent copyright fee settlement will be directly through Guangxian, but due to the exchange rate involved, it is estimated that it will take a few days to arrive in the account.

The name of the studio is "Xingchen Film and Television Co., Ltd.", which has a hint of the stars and the sea, and the legal person of the company is Gu Wei himself.

After settling on the studio, he went to the directing department office and asked the teacher to help recommend a few people. He was a freshman and didn't know anyone else in school except the teacher and a few classmates. Teacher Wang patted his chest and assured him that there would be no problem and that he would be able to find all the people in the next two days.

In the next few days, Gu Wei stayed in school, attending meetings of all sizes, acting as a tool and taking photos with leaders and teachers.

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(End of this chapter)