The moment the results came out, everyone was pleasantly surprised. Ning Jiaqi stood up, but first hugged his male lead, Xiao He.
Xiao He accepted Director Ning's kindness and smiled as he hugged Director Ning back. Thus, the two of them appeared together in front of the international cameras.
"Thank you, thank you."
Ning Jiaqi never expected that he would win the Best Director award for "No Bait".
After countless near misses over the years, the compromises of middle age, and the later fame and fortune, Director Ning originally thought he could accept this reality with equanimity.
But he still got what he had missed in the past.
Bathed in the light, the older director took a deep breath, his face beaming with smiles.
And the surprises don't stop there—
"After rigorous discussion and deliberation by the jury, the Jury Grand Prize of this year's film festival is awarded to 'No Bait'!"
After Ning Jiaqi received the Best Director award, he was followed by the Jury Prize and the Jury Grand Prize.
The host on stage opened the card in his hand, a look of amazement on his face, and finally looked at the audience with a smile, and read out the name of the "No Bait" crew once again.
When the awkward Chinese voice rang out again, thunderous applause filled the room, and everyone in the crew looked on with delight.
Even Xiao He was momentarily stunned.
Many people may only know the Palme d'Or and not the Jury Prize and the Grand Jury Prize. In fact, the order of their status can be simply understood as Palme d'Or > Grand Jury Prize > Jury Prize, which is equivalent to champion, runner-up and third place.
The Jury Prize is the third largest prize in the main competition. It is more of a consolation prize or encouragement prize. It is generally used to balance the opinions within the jury. It is a type of work that is highly praised and liked by a certain group of judges and has received a high number of votes.
The Grand Jury Prize is the second-highest award in the main competition, second only to the Palme d'Or, also known as the "runner-up." It is equivalent to the level of a near-Best Film, but such works may be slightly inferior to the Palme d'Or winner in terms of social value and general recognition. It is the best choice after the Palme d'Or winner, and the voting results are highly concentrated.
These are among the most prestigious awards at the entire Cannes Film Festival!
With the champions all these years, who remembers the second and third place winners?
Regardless of its status, it is still the runner-up selected from among numerous works worldwide! It remains a height that many people, both domestically and internationally, cannot reach in their entire lives!
This suggests that while "No Bait" may not be as meaningful in terms of social value or overall significance as those straightforward and bloody realistic dramas, its narrative pacing, filming techniques, acting performances, and so on are all excellent.
You can criticize it for not being satirical enough, but you can't deny its quality and eye-catching appeal.
Because it's been clearly visible to the naked eye over the past few days that the premiere of "No Bait" had the best effect, and the audience response in subsequent screenings was the best!
Compared to artistic film formats, people clearly still prefer fast-paced, plot-driven movies with constant twists and turns!
And without a doubt, Director Ning, a director who makes commercial films, really did win a major award with this film, "No Bait"!
Although they have no chance of winning the Palme d'Or, it doesn't matter anymore.
A film intended to earn domestic and international box office revenue—a film that wasn't originally planned to compete for awards—successfully won one!
At this point, using Versailles-style phrases like "a chance encounter leads to unexpected success" would be impolite.
But never mind.
Anyway—they won an award!
This is an honor for everyone in the "No Bait" crew, and it is the result of everyone's joint efforts!
During the final photo session, Xiao He, along with the film crew, stepped onto the highest stage in Cannes for the first time.
"Come on, our leading man—"
Ning Jiaqi shoved Xiao He, making him stand in the very center of the stage crew, his pride undisguised.
Perhaps because of its long history, many places bear the marks of time, and the overall stage size is far smaller than that of many venues in China, Xiao He did not feel so uneasy or uncomfortable after he stood still. Instead, he focused his attention on observing the expressions of the people below the stage.
This is a global stage, bringing together elites from all over the world. The people here are of different skin colors, speak different languages, and have different experiences, but they are all coming here one after another for the same goal.
They are the elites of their own country, the strong in the same field, and striving for the same award.
At this moment, they are sitting below, while he stands under the spotlight!
This is his honor, the crew's honor, and the honor of all Chinese people!
At this moment, Xiao He knew that he was no less than anyone else here.
This world belongs to them, and so does the future!
He had never been so certain!
...
After stepping off the stage, Director Ning made a special trip to Sun Gong's area, and then looked at Sun Gong with a smile, saying casually, "Oh my, I really didn't expect that this was originally just about participation, but I accidentally won an award! Look at this, it's so embarrassing."
Sun Gong clearly did not expect that "No Bait" would actually win an award, and even the most important award besides the Palme d'Or!
He gritted his teeth inwardly, his fingers digging even tighter, his heart filled with displeasure.
This displeasure reached its peak when Ning Jiaqi came over to show off.
But what's the use?
"Oh? I almost forgot to ask, did your crew achieve anything this time?"
Ning Jiaqi deliberately peeked out, looking around curiously, then suddenly realized, "Oh dear! I almost forgot, Director Sun, you guys won an award too! What was it again...?"
He thought about it carefully, then suddenly laughed: "It seems to be... the New Force Attention Promotion Award? Huh? This seems to be a new award added this year! Oh my, you guys are really lucky, you just happened to come across an award that the organizers added at the last minute, otherwise you would probably have to go and collect an off-site award... Let me think, given your situation, you might even be able to get a humanitarian award!"
The awards inside the festival are naturally established by the festival itself, while the awards outside the festival are more varied. They are mostly established by non-governmental associations, media alliances, industry organizations, and even some are set up by related brands themselves. They are generally just using the Cannes name. To put it bluntly, it's the difference between official awards and unofficial awards.
Even if you have no money, you can buy yourself a "humanitarian ambassador" title if you've never made a movie or are not in the industry, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ just by passing by.
As long as you have money!
However, Ning Jiaqi's words still made Sun Gong's face turn black.
Although they did receive an official in-show award, it's clear to everyone that it's a title bought with money, bearing the name of Cannes but essentially no different from an off-show award.
The organizers gave them very little time; they basically came down as soon as they received their awards, without even having time to speak, and it was just a formality.
This kind of award might fool domestic fans, making them think that their crew has won a big award and their idol has received a great honor, and they celebrate with great joy. But in reality, those in the know know that this is just a way for rich people to gain prestige.
At most, it's just that their Phnom Penh is indeed very powerful, and they've certainly spent a lot of money on it.
Ning Jiaqi's words were practically an insult to their dignity.
Sun Gong's face twitched repeatedly, but he managed a forced smile: "Heh, heh heh, same to you, same to you."
"Thank you, thank you."
Ning Jiaqi, satisfied with Sun Gong's almost vomiting blood expression, sneered inwardly and turned to leave with a flourish.
