Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the blink of an eye, it was already time to go.
Team lead Nie Yuan mentioned everyone in the WeChat group and told them to attend the closing ceremony. He asked everyone to meet downstairs in the lobby so they could head to the ceremony together.
Zhang Zian bathed Famous, then began packing his things into his luggage––all except his clothes for the ceremony.
Berlin Bear toys of all sizes, along with other souvenirs, were being shipped to China through a shipment company. He had spent a lot of money on souvenirs alone while in Germany.
Famous was ready to go. It was wearing a bow tie with Berlin Bears on it that was also bought from a souvenir shop.
There were still a few people absent when they came downstairs, so Zhang Zian sat on the couch with Famous.
Lin Feng was whispering with his assistant. Zhang Zian could not hear what they were talking about, but Famous had better ears. It heard that the assistant was encouraging Lin Feng to be himself on stage in case he won an award, and to not be afraid of making mistakes. There were a few seconds of delay in the broadcast signal in case there were any surprises during the broadcast.
Feng Xuan was wearing a black suit and looked very formal. Lin Feng had on the same. They were both well prepared for the night. In some sense, the closing ceremony was more important than the opening ceremony.
They waited awhile until everyone was there, then Nie Yuan got into his rental car and led everyone for departure.
The ten-day long Berlin Film Festival was coming to an end. The entire city was coming down from its carnival-like atmosphere.
At the same time next year, however, movie lovers from across the globe would gather in Berlin again.
At dusk, the cars left the hotel and headed towards the Berlinale Palast in the Potsdamer Platz.
Most crew members were playing with their phones in the car with their heads down, or discussing the transactions of overseas distribution rights in low voices. Nie Yuan was making one call after another to big cinema bosses in order to get higher screening rates for Dog Warrior. A higher screening rate meant higher income, which was ultimately related to the final numbers of the movie’s cost and profit.
Zhang Zian sat in silence and stared at the night view of Berlin outside the window.
In the distance, the Berlin Victory Column was surrounded by lights and looked as bright as a torch in the pitch-black sky. The golden Victory Goddess was holding a spear in one hand and a wreath in the other, ready to fly with both wings spread.
As most of the buildings in downtown Berlin were not very tall, this 67-meter tall monument could be seen in most parts of the city. Zhang Zian had visited it once with the elfins.
Soon, the cars stopped in front of Berlinale Palast. It was time to walk on the red carpet once more for the closing ceremony.
The last time Zhang Zian and Famous stepped out of the car, it took a while before the cameramen and reporters focused their lenses on them. They did so out of novelty hunting and gimmicks, however––it was the first dog on the red carpet of Berlin Film Festival, after all.
Things were different this time.
After the ten-day film festival, the obscure Famous was now known by everyone. Even the Germans who had not seen the film knew about the dog in the film festival.
The film itself had great reviews. People tended to be more tolerant of films that had animals in them––not to mention that Famous was a great actor.
The fans had started cheering as soon as the Dog Warrior crew arrived at the red carpet. Many of them were teenagers. The loud cheering made the other big celebrities look dim. The crew was greeted like home, making people realize how much the Germans loved dogs.
Lin Feng and Feng Xuan, who were in the front cars, stepped out one after another. They didn’t spend much time on the red carpet, nor did they try stealing the thunder from Famous in vain. Even Lin Feng didn’t do so.
The security crew judged the situation, then waved at Zhang Zian’s car, hinting for them to drive to the entrance of the red carpet.
“Sir, you may get out of the car,” the driver said after stopping the car.
As soon as Famous got out of the car, the atmosphere reached a climax. After a long wait, the reporters and cameramen focused on them immediately. Camera flashes were as bright as the day.
Famous sat on the red carpet politely, lifted a paw, and waved at its fans. It also posed for photographers, which raised another round of exclamation.
“Famous!”
“Famous!”
“Famous!”
Not knowing who called out to Famous first, the frantic fans began to cheer spontaneously. They were as loud as the fans yelling “step down” to the main coach on the soccer field…
The cheering was the loudest in one corner. Zhang Zian and Famous followed the noise and saw a group of young teenagers. Some of them looked familiar––they were the teenagers that they met in front of Cubix7 the other day.
After Famous looked at them in the eyes, they became more excited.
“Famous! You are our hero!”
“Famous! We support you forever!”
Famous smiled gently. It paused again and waved its paw towards them.
As teenagers, they had limitless potential. At the time, they were kids, but in the future, they could change the world.
Everyone watching was confused about the wave that Famous gave. The wave when it got off the car might have been trained by Zhang Zian, but how about the second wave? Even if Zhang Zian gave it a hidden dog trainer’s signal, how did he train it to wave in a certain direction?
Many Germans on site owned dogs and knew about dogs, but they still could not understand.
No matter how long the red carpet was, one would always reach the end.
Zhang Zian and Famous, guided by staff members, walked into the Berlinale Palast.
There were more celebrities on site than the day of the opening ceremony because the films had different premiere days during the ten days of the festival. Some busy celebrities might not arrive in Berlin on the first day, but would only come over at the day of their premiere and then leave at the end of the film festival.
The celebrities formed small groups and chatted with each other. After some time passed and there were repeated reminders from the loudspeaker, they finally took their seats.
The lights under the stage were dimmed, while the stage lights were brightened. The closing ceremony had started.
Bright lights were focused on one side of the stage where a row of bear trophies were placed on a table. One of them was gold, while all the rest were silver, representing the Golden Bear of Best Film and other awards. They were the center of everybody’s attention.
Zhang Zian tilted his head slightly to look around. He noticed that most of the foreign celebrities were casually dressed. Some even appeared sloppy. In contrast, the Dog Warrior crew, and another Chinese detective film crew, were all formally dressed. Maybe it was because the closing and award ceremonies were both broadcasted live in China by an online video website.
Every once in a while, the eyes from the two Chinese film crews crossed each other and they glared. They all saw the other as their biggest competitor.
Perhaps due to national pride, the Chinese media was giving more attention to the Chinese winning foreign awards than domestic awards. The promotions were at completely different levels. For instance, if Feng Xuan won an award at the Berlin Film Festival, then the media would refer him as “a director who won one of the top three European film festivals. If he won the Oscar… My goodness!”
There was the same hostess at the closing ceremony as there was at the opening ceremony.
After a brief speech, she introduced the awards for the short films first. Some were happy, while some were not. The winners were happy, while the losers were sad.
It was the same with the other awards.
As fewer and fewer bear trophies became available, the awards were becoming more and more important.
During the Best Director award, when the special guest read a different name, Feng Xuan sighed slightly. He was highly expected to win that award; however, it turned out that one could never figure out what the jury members liked the most. His reaction was indication of a saying that went, “the bigger the hope, the greater the disappointment.”
Then, the hostess invited another special guest to the stage with a mysterious look on her face.
As this special guest appeared shakily from the back of the stage, everybody was astonished. It was a very old lady who was pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair by some helpers.
The celebrities didn’t know this old lady. They started guessing her name, identity, and age.
The hostess started introducing the old lady loudly. It turned out that she was one of the starters of the Berlin Film Festival!
Applause and whistles rose fanatically under the stage as people began to pay the highest tribute to this respectable old lady. Without her, people would not have gathered in Berlin for over half a century to enjoy a carnival of films.
It was an unwritten tradition to have a male guest give the Best Actress award, and a female guest to give the Best Actor award. There were exceptions, of course.
The lady was old, but had great eyes. She made a speech with a voice that was not high, but very clear. “I barely watch foreign films because of the language barrier. It’s very hard to read the subtitles after getting old… But this film is an exception. In fact, I don’t understand a single word from this film, but I understand everything. In this film, I saw a great character that was created by an actor. The story he told us is unbelievably attractive. His glamour is everywhere in the entire film.”
Next, she opened the card from the committee with shriveled hands and read it with a smile. “The Best Actor, winner of the Silver Award is… Famous!”
