director of the millennium

Because it was the opening ceremony, all the jury members of this year's Berlin Film Festival were present.

This year's jury consists of five people:

German actress Sandra Wheeler, who won the Berlin Film Festival in 2006 for her performance in the film "Requiem".

Director Sebastian Lelio won the Berlin Golden Bear Award in 2017 for his LGBT-themed film "A Normal Woman".

British actress Trudy Styles.

Justin Chang, a famous film critic in the North American film industry, and curator Rajendra Roy.

In addition, the president of the jury is French actress Juliette Binoche, who is one of the top filmmakers in Europe. With the films "Blue", "The English Patient" and "Legal Copy", she became the first actress in the world to win the Grand Slam of Best Actress at the three major European film festivals!
However, her relationship with China is also long-standing.

Collaborating with Hou Hsiao-Hsien on the film Red Balloon was Binoche’s first personal contact with China.

Later, due to the tour of the stage play "In the Depths of My Heart" in China, she and Jia Zhangke became acquainted with each other and became the well-known "cross-border brother and sister". She then served as a guest at major domestic film festivals many times and last year she attended the Hainan Island Film Festival as an award presenter.

In other words, she and Jia Zhangke have a close relationship.

More importantly, she has sent out favorable signals for Chinese-language films more than once, saying that she wants to work with Gong Li and Zhang Manyu, and is looking forward to meeting Jiang Wen...

Binoche once admitted that "Asian directors all have a common way of capturing life. Their perspective is different from ours. This is not a kind of guidance, but an observation and an encounter."

Such experience and attitude are destined to make Binoche a booster for Chinese-language films at this year's Berlin Film Festival. At least she will not misunderstand Chinese-language films like Cate Blanchett did because of ideological differences.

When he met the chairman of the jury, Wu Yuan understood why Wang Xiaoshuai's "So Long, My Son" won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor/Actress in the original time and space.

With a jury chairman who is fair and impartial to Chinese-language films and is not influenced by the current "politically correct themes" in the international film industry, it is no wonder that a film like "So Long, My Son" that does not involve any ideology can win the grand prize.

However, this time there is not only "So Long, My Son", there is also "Cai Wenji" shot by Zhang Yimou himself!
Compared to Wang Xiaoshuai, I'm afraid Binoche, the jury president who is very familiar with Chinese-language films, will pay more attention to Zhang Yimou's new film!
However, due to the rules of the film festival, the judges and the chairman of the jury were not allowed to have close, biased conversations with anyone from the shortlisted film crew at this time, so everyone just greeted each other briefly, said hello, and then went their separate ways.

Watching Binoche's beautiful back as she left, Wu Yuan jokingly said to Zhang Yimou, "Director Zhang, the chairman of the jury just now kept his eyes on you, and didn't even look at me and Senior Brother Wang Xiaoshuai."

"It seems that they admire you very much. Maybe they are your European fans!"

Zhang Yimou didn't agree with it either, he just nodded and said, "Maybe."

Among those in Europe who love to watch art films, there are very few who have not seen Zhang Yimou's art films. There are even more European actors who like Zhang Yimou, and he has long been accustomed to it.

Among Chinese directors, only King of Sunglasses can compete with Zhang Yimou in terms of influence in Europe.

There is no way around it. The violent aesthetics of King of Sunglasses and "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love" are extremely popular in Europe, especially in the UK, Germany and France, and are all on the lists of the top 100 films in film history in these countries.

"It all depends on the next few days." Zhang Yimou finally concluded.

After the opening ceremony, no matter how many turbulent events there were behind the films shortlisted for the main competition unit, Wu Yuan transformed himself into an ordinary tourist and plunged into the film week.

In the first few days, he and his wife Liu Yifei lingered in major cinemas on the streets of Berlin every day, watching independent films from all over the world that were released in China. Although it is now a very developed Internet age, to be honest, a large number of independent films are still not available on the Internet.

There are many independent films that are only shown in very small art schools or at film festivals. In any case, it is very difficult for Wu Yuan to watch them in domestic theaters, and it is not easy to find them even on the Internet.

After all, if you want to find film and television resources online, you must first know the name of the movie.

Just like this year's Berlin International Film Festival, there were hundreds of films from all over the world on display, 90% of which were films Wu Yuan had never heard of. It could be said that it was a feast for his eyes.

However, while watching the movie, he did not forget to take care of his beloved wife.

Liu Yifei's belly is already four months big.

If it were an ordinary pregnant woman, her lower abdomen would usually have bulged at this time and her pregnancy would be more obvious.

But Liu Yifei is not an ordinary pregnant woman, she is a star and an artist.

Just like the baby of Xiao Ming's family, her belly only looked slightly bulging when she was seven or eight months pregnant. Most celebrities and artists, when they are pregnant, will hire very professional health care workers and nutritionists to develop a reasonable diet plan and perform necessary exercises.

The advantage of doing this is that it can ensure that the mother and the baby in the belly are always in the healthiest state.

What is the healthiest state?
It's just right, not too fat or too thin.

Perhaps many ordinary people think that the heavier the newborn is, the better, and the heavier it is, the more blessed it is.

But in fact, this idea is completely wrong. An overweight baby can cause many problems during delivery and put a heavy burden on the mother's body, which is not a good thing.

Of course, if it is too light, it is not good either, because it means unhealthy development.

Therefore, how to control this degree in the middle requires comprehensive control by very professional maternal and child doctors.

This is also why many celebrities’ bellies are not very big when photographed by reporters during pregnancy, even in the late stages of pregnancy. Generally, it is only after seven or eight months that their bellies look like those of ordinary pregnant women in six or seven months. These are the “most perfect” babies that are bought with money!
Liu Yifei is enjoying such treatment now.

Even though she is already four months pregnant, her figure is still well maintained. Her belly has only grown a little bit, and you can't see it at all unless you look closely.

At least when she was walking on the red carpet at the Berlin International Film Festival, no reporter noticed that she was pregnant. Even if some reporters thought her belly was a little fatter, they thought she had gained weight. After all, Liu Yifei often gained and lost weight, and everyone was used to it.

Both Wu Yuan and Liu Yifei were very satisfied with this.

It’s not that they plan to hide it from the public. They plan to announce the good news when the child is six months old. There is no need to publicize it so early.

"Sissi, I hope this trip to Berlin will have a successful outcome."

Wu Yuan, who had just finished watching an Indonesian independent film in a cinema in Berlin, smiled like an uncle and gently stroked his wife's belly, "Little one, you also want to go on stage with your mother to receive the award~" (End of this chapter)