Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 669 - 484 Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival is one of the top three international film festivals in the world.
Originally named the West Berlin International Film Festival, it was established in 1951. The highest award is the Golden Bear Award, similar to the Cannes Film Festival, and it is divided into several sections including the main competition, encounters, short film competition, new generation, film forum, and special screenings.
It is held annually in January or February for two weeks with the aim of strengthening the exchange between filmmakers from around the world and promoting the improvement of cinematic art.
This year during the Berlin Film Festival, over 400 films were showcased in several major cinemas in Berlin. After the jury's selection, "Buried," "Caesar Must Die," "Royal Scandal," "Sister," "Warlock," "The Help," and 16 other films entered the main competition section.
From Huaxia, besides "The Help," there were also "The Flowers of War" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" exhibited, but they did not participate in the awards competition.
At the festival, Link also met Director Zhang, leading actress Nini, director of "The Help" Wang Anquan, leading actress Zhang Yuqi, leading actor Duan Yihong, and others, as well as the director of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," Tsui Hark and others.
Lately, Director Zhang had been in low spirits, his face more wrinkled than usual.
The main reason was the box office issue of "The Flowers of War."
The film had a production cost of nearly 600 million, and after nearly two months of screening in Huaxia, it only earned 720 million RMB.
The overseas box office performance was also quite average, except in the United States, where the total revenue in other regions was less than 1.5 million US Dollars.
The North American region fared slightly better. "The Flowers of War" had a limited release on January 2nd and had so far earned $5.47 million in box office revenue, which converted to over 30 million RMB, but Lionsgate Films had spent as much as 2 million US Dollars on the promotion of the film.
Lionsgate Films broke even, but it was difficult for the film's production company to recover costs, with an estimated loss of about 300 million RMB.
To minimize losses, Director Zhang had recently taken the cast to various film festivals to enhance the film's impact, though with moderate success.
"Haha, Link, you're here too," he said.
At the Berlin Film palace screening hall, upon seeing him, Director Zhang took his hand warmly in greeting.
On one hand, the two had worked together in the crew for more than a month and had become quite familiar after a couple of drinks.
On the other hand, the performance of "The Flowers of War" was quite poor during its limited screening in North America, with a possible loss if continued.
But Link insisted on extending the screening time and even put in more than 2 million Dollars in promotion, helping "The Flowers of War" to be shortlisted for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
In this regard, Link had been very supportive.
Additionally, after the film's release, domestic media heavily criticized the story, labeling it as fanciful, stereotypical, and manipulatively sentimental, seeing the film as a disaster.
However, Link, the male lead, received much praise, with critics acknowledging his excellent performance in the film.
"Southern Metropolis Daily" commented that although Link was a foreign actor, he integrated well with the Huaxia cast during performances. His demeanor, actions, charisma, and even the emotions conveyed through his eyes were all very authentic. His presence among the Huaxia actors didn't feel out of place at all, a difficult feat for many foreign actors in Huaxia films.
Phoenix Network praised Link as the most suitable foreign actor for Huaxia films.
Film fans were also very satisfied with Link's performance in the film, considering him the best actor in the entire film.
For this reason, media believed that if a different male lead were cast, the box office performance would definitely have been worse.
Director Zhang also felt he had made the right choice with Link. He couldn't help but be pleased to see him.
"Director Zhang, how is the film's distribution in Europe going?" Link asked, shaking his hand.
"Average."
Director Zhang strained a smile, the wrinkles around his mouth deepening.
He had toured Europe, and thus far, only five countries' distributors were willing to acquire distribution rights, but their offers were very low.
To make money from a film, it needs to be screened in more countries and regions. However, distributors first consider whether a movie has the potential to be profitable, and no one wants to make a losing deal.
Nobody is as bold as Link, who, despite the risk of losses, insists on screening the film and investing 2 million in promotion.
"Director Zhang, Lionsgate Films has several distribution partners in Europe. If you need, I can arrange for someone to contact them to see if they are interested in 'The Flowers of War,'" Link suggested after a moment of thought.
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Director Zhang promptly agreed.
Lionsgate Films is a major production company, sending many film and television resources to Europe each year. Distribution companies aim to make money and must maintain good relationships with upstream production companies to access quality film sources.
In this regard, Lionsgate Films holds significant influence over these distributors.
If Link was willing to speak on their behalf, it could greatly benefit "The Flowers of War" in opening up the European market.
Director Zhang, delighted, asked when he would be free to join him for a drink.
Link smiled lightly and didn't decline. Germany being the homeland of beer, boasting over five thousand kinds, made it a fine place to enjoy some beer.
"Hi, Link, good to see you again."
After he finished talking with Director Zhang, leading actress Nini came over, her face beaming as she greeted him.
Nini had a good command of English. According to her, she initially aspired to work in a foreign company as a white-collar worker after university graduation.
She had proactively practiced the language during her university years, and her proficiency in English was one of the reasons she was chosen as the female lead in "The Flowers of War."
