Jury Award and Best Actor

Lu Yan and others who were far away in Cannes naturally had no time to pay attention to the domestic developments. Their entire attention was focused on the upcoming final awards ceremony.

Especially Qin Feng.

Qin Feng was more surprised and excited than anyone else about the nomination of “Sniper”. He originally thought that it was just a passing scene, but suddenly there was a glimmer of hope, and this hope was not so slim. Compared to the hundreds of films competing in the exhibition, the number that could be shortlisted was already very small, a few percent and a few tenths, this ratio Qin Feng could calculate.

Even if the film really didn’t win the award in the end, Qin Feng was well prepared. He had contacted the team the night the film was nominated, and when the results came out, whether it won or not, he had already arranged the public relations. However, although he thought it was unlikely, Qin Feng had already begun to hold out hope. If Lu Yan could win the title of Best Actor in one fell swoop, he would be the artist who won the Best Actor award in the shortest time since his debut, and he would be international in nature from the beginning, so this starting point was not low.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the award ceremony finally kicked off.

The red carpet that night was particularly star-studded, with a row of Hollywood stars making the audience scream to the sky again and again. Many big domestic stars also came, and the few Chinese fans at the scene also showed their greatest enthusiasm for the familiar faces.

Surrounded by stars, the appearances of Lu Yan and Zhou Yingcai seemed less eye-catching. Nevertheless, Zhou Yingcai this time was different from the opening ceremony. He put aside his previous slump and held his head high with more spirit in his eyes. Lu Yan was no different, still smiling and graceful. Even the audience who were not familiar with him were impressed by his demeanor and kept asking who this well-mannered and muscular boy was. But soon their attention was diverted by the next star who appeared on stage.

The award ceremony started on time. The host was the host of one of the most popular talk shows in France in recent years, and the award-giving guests were all very impressive.

According to tradition, the awards ceremony was usually presented first with the less important awards, and the most important “Palme d’Or” was naturally the finale.

Unlike many other film festivals, the Cannes Film Festival does not award the Best Actor and Best Actress awards in different categories, so there are only two Best Actor awards. It couldn’t be said that they were more valuable because of this, but they were indeed more difficult to obtain.

The Best Actress award was presented before the Best Actor award. Qin Feng, who was sitting next to Lu Yan, had straightened up and stared at the podium without blinking. 

Lu Yan patted his leg and said with a smile, “Is Brother Feng very nervous?”

Because of this interruption, Qin Feng was no longer so focused and relaxed a little. He asked back, “Aren’t you nervous?”

Lu Yan smiled and said, “Of course I am a little nervous. Although it is rare to be shortlisted in such an international competition, now that I am shortlisted, it would be a lie to say that I don’t expect to win a prize.”

“Haha,” Qin Feng also laughed, “You are quite honest. Tell me, how sure are you?”

“I can’t say for sure, the results will come out soon, so let’s wait and see.”

While the two were talking, the Best Actress award was announced. The winner was British actress Christine, who starred in the film “The Innocents”. The venue burst into applause, and the two followed suit. After the winner took the trophy and gave an emotional speech, the next award segment began.

The guest presenting the Best Actor award was the internationally renowned director Mel Kosrich. Mel was nearly 50 years old, but among the famous directors who had been famous for a long time, he was not considered old. He was in good health and looked energetic. Most of the films he directed were warm and social themes, which were often touching and warm but also could trigger some deep thinking. He himself was somewhat inconsistent with the style of his films, he was funny and humorous.

After Mel came on stage, he first expressed his routine gratitude to the judges for inviting him as a guest, and then made a few jokes, filling the venue with laughter, before getting to the point. Among the shortlisted male actors, only Lu Yan was from Asia. Mel opened the envelope with the final result in his hand, took a look and laughed, “The winner of the Best Actor Award at the 87th Cannes Film Festival is the beautiful boy from the East, Lu Yan.”

Considering Mel’s age and qualifications, it was not an exaggeration to call Lu Yan a boy.

Lu Yan was almost deaf at that moment. He could not hear anything and just stared at Mel’s lips, trying to read the following content in this way. Even with a cheating rebirth experience, even if he knew that this character would win this award, knowing is one thing, and actually facing it is another. When this predicted result actually became a reality, even someone as calm as Lu Yan was overwhelmed by the huge joy and was unable to move.

It is difficult for people who have not experienced it to truly understand that feeling. Because of the foreseeable, they would be worried again and again in their hearts, what if, what if things change? Expecting too long, waiting too long, if history really changed, the loss was something that people who never expected could never understand. Fortunately, fortunately, history repeated itself, and no matter what the details were, the result remained unchanged.

It was not until Qin Feng pushed him hard that Lu Yan came back to his senses. Qin Feng slapped him on the back, “Boy, I thought you were really not nervous. Why are you pretending to be so calm? In the end, you are still stunned.”

There was thunderous applause in the venue. Lu Yan stood up with a smile on his face. Before he could say anything, Zhou Yingcai, who was sitting on the other side of him, hugged him so tightly that it almost strangled his bones. It seemed that he was even more excited than he was.

The colleagues from the film industry around them then realized that the newly crowned Cannes Film Festival winner was sitting next to them. They all stood up, congratulated him in their own languages, and reached out to shake hands with Lu Yan while clapping.

Lu Yan had calmed down again. He shook hands with every friendly and encouraging colleague with a smile on his face, and his steps towards the award-winning podium were steady and firm.

Mel, standing on the stage, smiled and presented the trophy to him. Then the two hugged each other in a friendly manner. Mel said again, “Congratulations, beautiful oriental boy. Please keep up the good work.”

Lu Yan nodded and thanked him while gently supporting Mel who was about to leave the stage. He was courteous and humble.

In the eyes of Oriental people, Lu Yan was undoubtedly the most handsome of handsome men. His face had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, with clear contours and almost no blind spots in 360 degrees. However, in the eyes of Westerners, Oriental people all look the same, and those who are face-blind can’t tell them apart at all. But Lu Yan had good skin, a good figure, regular facial features, and bright eyes. Even in the eyes of Westerners who were face-blind to Oriental people, he deserved the word “beautiful”.

Not to mention his generous attitude, elegant and decent speech and manners, and a good temperament. These qualities were not limited by nationality or borders. Therefore, in the eyes of most people in the venue, they had already developed a good impression of this big boy who won the Best Actor award of the year. Some women who did not carefully read the introduction of the nominees just now had even privately asked which country the person on the stage was from and which movie he starred in.

Lu Yan bowed slightly to the audience, raised the trophy in his hand, stood in front of the microphone, smiled and said slowly, “First of all, I want to thank Director Zhou Yingcai and the Sniper crew. It is the efforts of all of us that have given me the opportunity to stand on this shining stage today. Then I want to thank all the judges, thank you for giving me this award, thank you for your recognition and love for me. I also want to thank those who support me and those who do not support me. The support of the former is the motivation and source of my continuous efforts, and the latter makes me understand a truth, be myself and speak with facts. Finally, I would like to thank the entire Chinese film industry. It is the efforts of generations of Chinese filmmakers that have allowed Chinese films to truly step onto the international stage. I believe that in the future, there will be more Chinese filmmakers on this stage.”

Lu Yan spoke excellent English, with a perfect accent and clear pronunciation. After he finished speaking, he raised the trophy in his hand again and walked off the stage calmly.

Later, “Sniper” won the Jury Prize, which was the second-highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, although not the “Palme d’Or”. Zhou Yingcai was so excited that he could not control himself. The contrast between the two was too great, just like going from hell to heaven.

Zhou Yingcai burst into tears the moment the award was announced. As a director, he was under much greater pressure than Lu Yan. For Lu Yan, winning the Best Actor award was the icing on the cake, but for him, winning the award was a timely help. Zhou Yingcai hugged Lu Yan tightly once again, saying thank you repeatedly with a choked voice. Lu Yan patted his back with understanding, waiting for his emotions to calm down.

Although he stuttered a bit when delivering his acceptance speech because he was too excited, the filmmakers present were very considerate and applauded to encourage him. Even Dai Zeng, who originally had some reservations, sincerely congratulated him at this moment.

Due to the time difference, it was about 4 or 5 in the morning in China at this time, but all the moderators of the entertainment section were working overtime that night, waiting for the result to come out so that they could send out the report in time. Of course, if “Sniper” had no success, they might have waited a whole night in vain, but even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, they had to wait. This was the spirit and ethics of the media. Fortunately, the results were encouraging and there was no doubt about what the front-page headlines would be the next day.

In the history of Chinese-language films, only two films had won the “Palme d’Or” so far, and no more than five films had won the Jury Prize. In addition, only five people, including Lu Yan, had won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the Cannes Film Festival. And tonight, “Sniper” won the Jury Prize and the Best Actor Award in one fell swoop, which showed its importance.

Before he even left the venue, Lu Yan’s cell phone vibrated. He took it out and stopped, motioning Qin Feng and Zhou Yingcai to go out and wait for him. He then turned around and found an empty corner and answered the phone. 

“Hello……”

A low chuckle came from the other side, “Congratulations, Mr. Lu, no, now I should call you Movie King Lu.”

“Heh,” Lu Yan also laughed softly, feeling very happy, “You got the news very quickly. It just ended and it seems that there is no live broadcast in China.”

“I have always had great powers. Didn’t Movie King Lu know that a long time ago?” Su Mo joked.

Lu Yan chuckled softly. He knew that Su Mo had a hundred ways to know the result immediately the moment it was revealed. He had just said it casually. Naturally, he felt very happy that his lover cared so much about his affairs.

Su Mo said with a hint of regret, “I regret not going to Cannes with you. I think you must have looked very charming standing on the award-winning podium.”

“If you come and I don’t win any prize, then it would be a wasted trip.”

“No, then I can comfort you.”

Lu Yan felt warm inside. Compared to the Best Actor award that he could get sooner or later, the person on the other end of the phone on the other side of the ocean was his greatest reward in this life. He changed his tone and whispered ambiguously, “Missed me, huh?”

“Yeah, I miss you very much.” Su Mo’s answer was always frank.

Lu Yan was not a shy person, “I miss you too. I will go back to China tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll celebrate for you when you come back.”

After hanging up the phone, he walked out of the venue and found Qin Feng and Zhou Yingcai. Song Hui had also followed him.

Qin Feng saw Lu Yan’s lustful face and teased, “Girlfriend?”

Lu Yan smiled and said, “Lover.”

“Oh, it’s all the same.” Qin Feng said casually.

Song Hui had a strange look on his face, thinking that it was different. He held his words back for a long time.

Zhou Yingcai’s expression was also a little strange, “Are you really in love?”

“Really.” Lu Yan said.

Zhou Yingcai muttered, “I thought you were promoting your new album.”

“I never hype this kind of thing.” Lu Yan said seriously.

“Alright,” Qin Feng patted the two on the shoulders, “Today is a big day, let’s celebrate first. When we return to China tomorrow, I guess you won’t have any free time for a while.”

This was indeed the truth. He believed that the domestic media must be in an uproar now. When they return home, they would be greeted not only with unprecedented honor but also with unprecedented busyness.

The four of them found a bar under the guidance of the local driver. It was impossible to find a food stall or a restaurant here, unlike in China. Fortunately, there were bars everywhere in the world, so it was still possible to have a drink.

“It’s great.” Qin Feng drank a glass of beer in one gulp and said with a smile, “I really want to see what the faces of those film critics who scolded you before are like now.”

To be honest, not only Zhou Yingcai and Lu Yan, but Qin Feng was also holding back a lot of anger. As a well-known gold medal agent in the industry, he was a little embarrassed to see that Lu Yan’s first movie as the leading role after joining him turned out to be such a dismal result. 

Originally, for an actor, the success or failure of a movie does not mean anything. It’s just that the contrast between the before and the after was too strong. Moreover, Qin Feng’s status in the brokerage circle was just like Han Yuan’s status in the entertainment industry. They were both god-like and people looked up to them. An occasional mistake was enough to make those villains who were respectful on the surface but jealous in private laugh at him for a long time. Now that reality had taken a big turn, Qin Feng felt extremely happy.

Lu Yan said nothing,  just raised his glass and clinked it with Qin Feng’s, “Thank you for your hard work, Brother Feng.”

Qin Feng drank it all up again, and then laughed again, “To be honest, Lu Yan, I couldn’t understand why you insisted on taking on “Sniper”, especially since you also had “Top Secret” waiting for you.  Now I have to say that you have good vision. Box office is nothing. Winning the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival is worth it even if it is not released in China. If it wasn’t so unbelievable, I would almost doubt whether you knew this result would happen a long time ago.”

Lu Yan’s heart skipped a beat, thinking that he was indeed a gold medal agent, so sharp. Fortunately, the truth was mysterious. If it weren’t for personal experience, few people would believe it, so he just smiled and said, “I said, my luck has always been good.”

As they were talking, Lu Yan’s phone vibrated again. He took it out and looked at the display, then picked it up directly, “Young Master He, it’s so late and you’re still not asleep.”

When Zhou Yingcai heard that it was the investor, his ears immediately pricked up. 

He didn’t hear what was said, he just heard Lu Yan was silent for a while and then he spoke, “Thank you for the award, Young Master He.”

…

“Really? That’s great. Less hassle.”

…

“Haha, that’s right. That’s it, we’ll contact each other when I return home.”

…

“Okay, bye.”

As soon as he hung up the phone, Zhou Yingcai looked over eagerly, “What’s the matter?”

Lu Yan smiled happily, “Good news, it’s very lively in China right now, people are discussing “Sniper” on the Internet, many fans said it’s a pity that they couldn’t see this movie which won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize. Therefore, some theaters have already said that they will consider rescheduling the film, and I believe that by tomorrow, more theaters will seriously consider it.”

Before Zhou Yingcai could say anything, Qin Feng had already smiled, “Young Mater He is really fast.”

Lu Yan looked at him and said meaningfully, “Brother Feng doesn’t seem too surprised.”

Qin Feng smiled mysteriously, “You don’t really think that there will be so many netizens who stay up so late waiting to read this news, and so many movie fans will demand that a movie that has been taken offline be re-released, even if it is a movie that won the Cannes Jury Prize. You should know that two or three of the films that won the Jury Prize before have never been released in China.”

Lu Yan said without any surprise, “It seems that my guess was right. This matter was proposed by Brother Feng and Young Master He.”

Qin Feng did not deny it at all. “Young Master He doesn’t care about this little money, but he likes the feeling of manipulating something. Besides, he treats you as a friend.”

Zhou Yingcai suddenly realized, “So you guys planned this all?”

Qin Feng patted his shoulder and said, “Director Zhou, if you want your movie to be a hit, you can’t just make it well.”

Zhou Yingcai seemed to be thinking about something.

In fact, there was a reason why “Sniper” performed so poorly when it was first released. Promotion and scheduling are very important for a movie to have a good box office. Zhou Yingcai had never paid much attention to the promotion of his films. He believed that a director’s responsibility was just to make good films. He also did not cooperate well with distributors, which had resulted in his films not performing well. He simply thought it was because the films were not good enough.

As for the screening schedule, the performance of “Sniper” should not have been so bad. At most, it would have barely recovered its costs like his previous films. It’s just that the film was unlucky this time, as it was released just two days after “Top Secret” was released. Whether in terms of the fame of the director, the fame of the leading actors, the lineup of the crew, or the strength of publicity, the latter was far ahead of the former. The cinema was not stupid either, and they quickly adjusted the screening time and reserved the prime time for “Top Secret”.

Although Young Master He invested a little money in “Sniper”, as he said, he only agreed to invest for Lu Yan’s sake. This little money was nothing in his eyes, so after investing the money, he never asked again, and he didn’t care whether he could make money or not.

Therefore, he had no concern about the subsequent distribution of the film. In addition, he happened to be abroad during the time when “Sniper” was released. When he came back, the matter had been settled, so he was even more lazy to care about it.

So many people didn’t even know that Young Master He had anything to do with “Sniper”. Even if they carefully looked at the cast list at the beginning of the movie, the name He Ming was quite popular and most people would not connect the two. 

As for Lu Yan, he could have changed the outcome. If he had just given a little reminder, things might have been different. But as someone who knew what was going to happen next, he had no intention of changing the course of events.

After all, he took on the role of “Sniper” not for the box office but for the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award. If his interference changed the outcome, he would definitely not want to see it. Besides, the strong contrast between the beginning and the end could leave a deeper impression on people, so why not do it!

Various reasons led to the final result.

After this incident, Zhou Yingcai began to focus on the promotion of his films. He soon got rid of the nightmare of being a director with poor box office performance. However, he never made a film like “Sniper” again. Between gains and losses, whether it was regret or satisfaction, perhaps only he himself knew clearly.