The Awards, the Rights, and the Return Home
The Berlin International Film Festival's regular awards included the Golden Bear for best film and Silver Bear Awards for the jury grand prize, best director, best actor, best actress, and other categories.
In addition, depending on the quality of the films each year, certain other awards could be added, such as the Alfred Award and the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award.
The award Wei Jin had just won was the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award. It was primarily intended to recognize films with outstanding artistic achievements in areas such as screenwriting, cinematography, scoring, and directing, but which fell short of the best film and jury grand prize winners.
In the more than twenty years since the Berlin International Film Festival was established, the award had not been presented every year.
So, considering the film's artistry in its writing, cinematography, and techniques, many people had predicted before the ceremony that the jury would give the award to Buried Alive.
As both screenwriter and director, Wei Jin was a more suitable recipient than someone responsible for cinematography alone. It could only be said that it was a pity for Ning Hao.
Wei Jin went onstage, accepted the Little Silver Bear, and walked to the podium.
"Wow, she's really heavy!"
Wei Jin lifted the Little Silver Bear, then let out a long breath.
"I'm a little nervous. Please give me a moment to compose myself."
At that, the audience laughed good-naturedly, and applause rang out once more.
Standing onstage, Wei Jin looked at the sea of people below. He had lived two lives, but he hadn't expected to still be a little nervous when the moment came.
After composing himself a little, he began his acceptance speech.
"Thank you. First of all, many thanks to Mr. Howard. He was the one who brought this film to Berlin and presented it to all of you. Thank you."
"Thank you very much to the jury for giving me this award. I'm very happy. It's a recognition of my work, and I'll continue to work hard. Thank you."
"Thank you to every member of the crew, especially the producer, my teacher Jiang Wei. Perhaps you don't know this, but I'm a university student, currently in my second year."
A gasp went up from the audience. There was no other reason: he was simply too young, and still a university student.
"My teacher gave me a great deal of help during the crew's preparations and filming. Of course, my alma mater, the Beijing Film Academy, also gave me tremendous support."
"Thank you to my senior Ning Hao, our cinematographer. This trophy belongs partly to you. And thank you to our excellent actor, Qin Hao. Your performance was truly wonderful."
"Finally, thank you again to the jury, and thank you, Berlin."
To the audience's applause, Wei Jin returned to his seat. He felt that he had worked up quite a sweat. He really had been a little nervous.
After letting everyone handle the Little Silver Bear for a while, he settled into his seat. The awards ceremony was still going on.
In the end, the best actor award slipped through Qin Hao's fingers, a slight disappointment. The Buried Alive crew won no further awards.
After the ceremony, there was an official celebratory reception and a few brief interviews, bringing the film festival to a satisfying close.
The next day, news that the debut film of a second-year directing student at the Beijing Film Academy had won a Silver Bear Award was flying all over the country.
A horde of reporters swarmed the entrance to Wei Jin Fengliu Studio. Zhang Wen, the young receptionist, looked helpless: neither the boss nor the general manager had returned.
The Beijing Film Academy took the opportunity to carry on its tradition and put up a banner:
"Warm congratulations to Wei Jin, outstanding student of our directing department's class of 2002, on winning a Silver Bear Award at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival"
For a time, Wei Jin became the talk of the school.
"Young director Wei Jin makes his name in Berlin, wins Silver Bear"—Beijing Youth Daily
"Chinese-language cinema returns triumphant from Berlin"—Beijing Entertainment Daily
"Uncovering the 21-year-old Silver Bear director: just who is Wei Jin?"—Huaxia Film News
"The story that must be told about the young director and the kissing girl"—Entertainment Gossip News
For several days running, Wei Jin appeared in front-page headlines across the major entertainment newspapers. The media were practically ready to dig up eight generations of his ancestors, and even his teachers and classmates at the Beijing Film Academy were sought out for interviews.
Photos of Wei Jin and Gao Yuanyuan walking the red carpet together also surfaced, and some unknown agent even revealed their relationship as landlord and tenant, prompting plenty of readers to fill in tens of thousands of words themselves.
It was now February 18. Wei Jin paid no attention to the commotion back home. His phone had been ringing off the hook these past few days, with calls from the media, teachers and classmates, and family and friends.
Of course, Zeng Li had called too. Apart from congratulating him and asking after him, Sister Li hadn't said anything else on the phone.
But Wei Jin could still sense Sister Li's mood. After all, the rumors had traveled all the way from Berlin back home, and, more importantly, they involved Gao Yuanyuan. He figured he would have to face a round of questioning when he got back.
Wei Jin and Chen Zhiming were currently busy with the rights deals. On the night the awards ceremony ended, a large number of distributors had swarmed in.
Some had already been interested in buying before, while others hadn't thought much of the film. In any case, the moment it won an award, it became a hot commodity.
After two days of negotiations, all the overseas rights to Buried Alive had been sold.
They did the final conversion: the total came to 6.54 million US dollars, or more than 54 million yuan. Everyone was a little stunned.
Overseas rights were actually worth that much. No wonder people still scrambled to invest in Director Jia's films even after he was banned in China. Once a film won an overseas award, the rights really were easy to sell.
The overseas rights sold best in North America, Japan, South Korea, and several major European countries.
In reality, it was difficult for art films to recoup their costs at the box office in any country. Only after winning awards at film festivals did they become easier to distribute. Of course, films that could win awards were a minority overall.
The total investment in Buried Alive had been less than a million yuan. Even adding all the overseas expenses this time, it came to less than two million. It hadn't even been released domestically, yet it had already made a net profit of more than 52 million. It really was an enormous return.
Wei Jin was not stingy either. He immediately decided to set aside two million yuan to reward the crew. At the same time, he decided not to disclose the price of the rights deals for now. After all, wealth was best kept out of sight.
The day after the rights deals were completed, the group of six flew back to China. It was already February 20.
As soon as they got off the plane, Wei Jin and the others were surrounded by the media. With no other choice, they agreed to an interview.
"Director Wei Jin, what is your relationship with Miss Gao Yuanyuan? Are you dating?"
"Director Wei Jin, how did you come up with the script for Buried Alive?"
"Director Wei Jin, will the film be released in China? We heard it's a thriller."
The reporters were practically stuffing their microphones into Wei Jin's mouth. The scene left the others shaken too. In the end, it was Chen Zhiming who temporarily took on the role of assistant and held back the frenzied reporters.
"One at a time. Don't crowd."
Airport security also came over to maintain order. Only then did Wei Jin begin to answer.
"We've just been on a plane for more than ten hours, and we're really tired. I'll answer three questions today. Please don't crowd; one at a time."
"Miss Gao and I are just friends. We happened to meet in Berlin, and I invited her to accompany me to the awards ceremony."
"As for the script, you may not know this, but I was once in a car accident. While I was unconscious, it felt as though my consciousness had been locked inside a small box. That's how I got the idea for Buried Alive."
"We'll make arrangements for the release later. The details will depend on the schedule. Thank you."
"Please make way, please make way..."
After finally breaking free of the media's encirclement, the group quickly left the airport, each going their own way.
Sitting in the company's business van, Wei Jin was somewhat quiet.
"Old Chen, help me hire an assistant. I expect there'll be plenty to handle from now on. Also, find some time to visit China Film Group and see about arrangements for the film's release."
"All right, Manager Wei."
Chen Zhiming also felt that it was getting a little too much for one person to handle. It looked like they needed to get the studio properly up and running.