March 2 is the penultimate day of the closing of this year's West Berlin Film Festival, on which many awards are announced, including the International Catholic Audiovisual Association of Cinema Awards, the International Commission for the Dissemination of Literary and Artistic Films, the most important of which are the Youth Forum awards, and the FIPRESCI Award.

The FIPRESCI Award, also known as the International Film Critics Award, or the FIPRESCI International Film Critics Award, is an off-site award presented at the three major European film festivals and other international film festivals. Each year, the association forms its own jury at film festivals around the world and awards awards before the festival's awards ceremony.

Due to the high overlap rate between the FIPRESCI Award and the highest award of the film festival, it is regarded by the media as the vane of the highest award. If any film wins the FIPRESCI Award, it will undoubtedly be the favorite for the highest award.

So, from noon, almost all the journalists in West Berlin, as well as the crews that felt they had a chance to win the award, were waiting for the final results of the FIPRESCI Awards.

Xu Wangqiu and the others were no exception, they returned to the hotel after lunch, and waited quietly in the room for the awards to be released. Xu Wangqiu very much hopes that "A Game of Chess That Has Not Been Played" will win the award, and it is best to win the grand prize. It's not that he thinks the awards are heavy, but that he hopes to counter the domestic film industry's notion that commercial films have no artistry.

This kind of concept is not only there now, but still exists many years later, for example, in 2019, the DC movie "Joker" won the Golden Lion Award in Venice, and as a result, a group of neurotic film critics in China jumped out to accuse Venice, saying that Venice is degenerate, and the top award should not be given to such a Hollywood commercial film.

If "A Game of Unfinished Chess" can win the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, it will undoubtedly be the best counterattack to those domestic critics who look down on commercial films. The three major film festivals are known for their art, and "A Game of Chess That Never Ends" is a commercial film, but it won the highest award at the three major film festivals.

Xu Wangqiu is full of confidence in "A Game of Chess That Never Ends", the original film won the highest award at the Montreal Film Festival, and this version made by himself corrected many deficiencies of the original version, and the artistic style is more prominent; However, he also knows that the film festival is a small group selection, and the taste of the jury determines the award, and the current film festival is not as transparent as later generations, and there are many dark box operations, such as the Venice Film Festival in 1983.

At the beginning of 1983, Bertolucci received an invitation from the Venice Film Festival to make him president of the Venice Film Festival, but Bertolucci did not want to do it too much. It wasn't long before he met Godard and inadvertently told him about it. While leaving, Godard wrote him a note saying that he hoped to meet again in Venice.

Bertolucci had always regarded Godard as a spiritual mentor, and he was overjoyed to hear that Godard had been mixed up at this year's Venice Film Festival. He agreed to Venice's invitation and made it possible to convene a jury of filmmakers from the sixties. So Bertolucci hired a jury of directors who were heavily influenced by the New Wave, all of whom were Godard's fans.

During the selection, Bertolucci hinted to the crowd that Godard should be given the grand prize. All of them were deeply influenced by the New Wave and supported Bertolucci's proposal. They even decided to give five prizes to Godard's Carmen, only to give two prizes to Godard's Carmen, which they later thought was too exaggerated and might cause public outrage.

In 1986, Xiuying Studio organized a delegation to visit Italy, and the chairman of a certain Italian film festival directly said to the people of Xiuying Studio, if you send "Maple", I will award you a gold award. After the people from Xiuying Studio returned to China, they told Zhang Yi, the director of "Maple", about the matter. Zhang Yi immediately went to the Film Bureau, hoping to make his film compete in Italy. The Film Bureau did not agree, thinking that this kind of film was not suitable for sending out for competition, and this thing did not work out.

At half past three in the afternoon, Xu Wangqiu received a notice from the organizing committee to let the crew of "Bloody Demon" participate in the awards ceremony in the evening. Wu Zhiliu and the others all stood up when they heard that "Bloody Demon Capture" had a prize, raised their arms and shouted wildly, excited like crazy people. Xu Wangqiu looked at Wu Zhiliu, who looked like he had taken a stimulant, and couldn't help but think of himself who won an award at the film festival for the first time, and he was also so excited. He smiled and told Wu Zhiliu and them to prepare well, so as not to be unable to say a word when they arrived at the podium, embarrassing China's face.

Wu Zhiliu and the others quickly went back to their rooms to prepare for the award ceremony in the evening, while Xu Wangqiu and the others continued to wait for news in the room. The FIPRESCI Award was released at four o'clock in the afternoon, but they waited until five o'clock in the afternoon, and Xu Wangqiu and they did not receive a notice. As a frequent visitor to the film festival, Xu Wangqiu knew that "A Game of Chess That Didn't End" missed the FIPRESCI Award.

As Xu Wangqiu expected, when it was almost six o'clock, they got the news that the winner of the FIPRESCI Award was the British film "Fast in 1920". The film has strong religious and political overtones, showing through the eyes of the protagonist Connie the bloody struggle between Christianity, which represents the rulers, and Catholicism, which represents the interests of the workers. The film is of average standard, but it is particularly in line with the taste of the West Berlin Film Festival.

According to the information inquired by reporters, the film critics in charge of the FIPRESCI Awards unanimously agreed that "A Game of Unfinished Chess" is very good, a very good film, and the best film of this year's West Berlin films, but they also believe that it is very difficult for art films to survive now, and the film festival is the best stage for art films to show themselves, like "A Game of Chess That Never Finished Such a commercial film has already been successful at the box office, so it should not be awarded any more awards, otherwise it will put pressure on the living space of art films, and will force art films and art film directors to death.

After hearing the news, almost everyone who cares about the fate of "A Game of Chess That Hasn't Been Finished" can't help but worry about the fate of the movie. If the members of the jury also have this view, then "A Game of Chess That Hasn't Been Finished" doesn't even have a Golden Bear, and there may not even be a small prize.

The next morning, all the members of the crew of "A Game of Chess That Didn't End" dressed up neatly, came to Xu Wangqiu's room, sat next to the phone, and waited for the final results to come out. The crew members, whether they are rookies like Akina Nakamori, or old rivers and lakes like Sun Daolin and Sangoku Rentaro, have a more dignified expression, and they are completely without the ease of the day before yesterday.

The only exception is Xu Wangqiu, who is still relaxed as usual, and there is not the slightest tension in sight. He confidently said to the crew members, maybe we won't win the top prize, but there will definitely be an award, and we won't go home empty-handed.

At the same time, reporters in West Berlin were inquiring about the selection process through various channels, and some reporters even called Xu Wangqiu's room and asked him if he had received a notice from the organizing committee and whether there was a prize for "A Game of Chess That Didn't End".

The judging process for the West Berlinale is similar to that at Cannes, on the final day of the festival, the jury gathers in a villa on the outskirts of the city to select the final results. The villa is isolated from the outside world, and judges are not allowed to use mobile phones and outside lines. After the decision was made, at 6 p.m., the judges were escorted by the police to the Palais du Cinémath.

Despite the strict precautions of the organizing committee, the powerful West German reporters still found out about the selection process. There was a fierce debate among the judges because of "A Game of Chess That Didn't Finish", and some of the judges agreed with the FIPRESCI Award that "A Game of Chess Without Finishing" was a commercial film, which was already very successful in business, and it should not be awarded again, and art films should be encouraged. Another part of the jury believes that the film should not consider other elements, but should focus on the film itself, "A Game of Chess That Never Ends" is the best film of this film festival, if the best films cannot win awards, then the authority of the film festival will be questioned.

After hearing the news, the reporters all felt that the possibility of "A Game of Chess Not Finished" winning the Golden Bear was already very small. In addition to "A Game of Chess That Never Ended", the British film "Fast in 1920", the Spanish film "The Hive" and Hou Mai's "Pauline on the Beach" are of relatively high quality. Since "Fast in 1920" has already won the FIPRESCI Award, it is undoubtedly the favorite of the Golden Bear.

Reporters believe that the probability of winning the Golden Bear for "A Game of Unfinished Chess" is relatively low, but because there are people in the jury and the quality of the film is there, it is impossible not to give the award. They thought that the jury would most likely award the Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievement to "A Game of Chess That Didn't End," which was for photography, and "A Game of Chess" was just too good for cinematography.

In addition, reporters believe that the jury may also award the Best Actor Award to "A Game of Chess That Hasn't Been Finished", Sun Daolin and Mikuni Rentaro The performances of the two actors in the movie are delicate and real, and the joys and sorrows of 42 years are perfectly presented, among which Sun Daolin has more roles and higher calls for awards.

The reporters have been in the film festival for many years, and they are very clear about the process of the film festival, knowing that after the award results are out, the organizing committee will notify the winners to participate in the award ceremony. They went through various ways to find out which crews had received the notice from the organizing committee, and some of those crews would attend the awards ceremony in the evening.

With the passage of time, the recalled crews continued to be exposed, and the films gradually became clear. The crew of "The Hive" was recalled, the crew of "Fast in 1920" was recalled, and the crew of "Pauline on the Beach" was recalled...... Only "A Game of Chess That Didn't End" has never received a recall call and is still waiting for news.

Xu Wangqiu and the others waited until half past 12, and did not wait for the notice of the organizing committee. Xu Wangqiu felt that the people of the organizing committee must have eaten at this time, and he would not call at this time, so he took the crew members to the restaurant for dinner. Unexpectedly, as soon as they got up, the phone that had been quiet for a long time finally rang.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze, and everyone involuntarily held their breath and glued their eyes to the phone on the table.

Xu Wangqiu walked to the table and reached out to connect the phone. Everyone else pricked up their ears to find out if it was the Organizing Committee's words, but unfortunately they didn't hear anything. After a few "uh-huh" sounds, Xu Wangqiu hung up the phone. He sighed slightly, and said with a disappointed face: "It was Zitlon from the reporter of Le Monde, and he asked if we had received a notice from the organizing committee. Let's go eat. ”

When everyone heard this, their faces were full of disappointment, and they shook their heads and walked out of the room.

Xu Wangqiu took two steps and suddenly laughed: "When I get to the restaurant in a while, when we eat, everyone should eat quickly." After eating, everyone hurried back to put on makeup and change clothes, and they had to attend the award ceremony in the evening!"

Everyone said "um", and then they all realized that the situation was wrong, and suddenly stopped, their eyes fixed on Xu Wangqiu. Junya Sato asked tentatively, "The call just now was from the organizing committee, and you deliberately lied to us?"

Xu Wangqiu laughed: "Yes, the call just now was from the organizing committee, and I lied to you." Well, I told you a long time ago, we must have a prize, and you don't believe it, so you believe it!"