Chapter 134: International Nomination
When the organizing committee first received the official email from the Louvain Award organizing committee, the secretariat assistant even mistook it for scam information.
After all, the organizer habitually uses gorgeous yet obscure French formatting.
“Louvain 2025: Meilleur Court Métrage en Sélection Officielle”
The title was crudely translated by AI as “Louvain selected shorts,” until the external liaison officer compared it with the format of previous nomination lists to confirm its authenticity.
“Sound Mixer” has officially been shortlisted for the short film competition section of the 50th Louvain International Film Festival. Although it’s just a nomination, for the organizing committee, this is absolutely good news.
After all, they shout every day about “cultural export,” but which microfilm they sent wasn’t cannon fodder? This is the first time one has been shortlisted.
Teacher Yu Wei has something!
Although it can’t compare to Venice, Cannes, and the Oscars, in the short film field, the Louvain Film Festival is undoubtedly quite authoritative, and this nomination has high gold content.
Inside a certain office building on Beijing’s East Fourth Ring Road, an almost explosive cheer erupted, and the coffee cups on the conference table nearly got knocked over.
“First contact Teacher Yu Wei, then go promote it.”
The organizing committee quickly reacted; this is absolutely something worth promoting, not only for Teacher Yu Wei but also for the microfilm competition.
Speaking small, this is Teacher Yu Wei’s personal success; speaking big, this marks a leap in the industrial level of Chinese-language microfilms.
To put it nicely, this is also a reflection of their work ability; they have also made contributions to the film industry.
This time, they were really carried to fly by Teacher Yu Wei…
So what about the nomination? No champagne at halftime—should they open it only if they lose?
When registering, Qi Luo An filled in her contact information, and when she received the call, she was stunned. More than surprise, it was unexpected.
Honestly, she didn’t know what the Louvain Award was, but if Teacher Yu Wei could win it, it would be a major international award; if not, it has no gold content.
Yes, she is that double-standard.
“I’ll give you the phone; you talk to him.”
Qi Luo An felt that such important news was better told to Teacher Yu Wei personally by professionals. If she relayed it, the sense of achievement would definitely be greatly discounted.
She still hoped Teacher Yu Wei could enjoy more flowers and applause…
When the organizing committee called, Teacher Yu Wei was sleeping in the car. He had adopted the strategy of writing at night and sleeping in the car during the day; this time he slept quite soundly, but he was woken up.
“Congratulations! Teacher Yu Wei, your ‘Sound Mixer’ has successfully been shortlisted for the Louvain Film Festival short film section.”
“Okay, I got it, thank you thank you.”
Hearing Teacher Yu Wei’s calm-as-water remarks, everyone in the conference room collectively fell silent. Why did it sound like he wasn’t very excited?
The staff holding the camera next to them recording this moment felt like they had been set up. The minister asked him to edit a three-minute video for promotion, but Teacher Yu Wei only said this one sentence—how to edit it…
Teacher Yu Wei really wasn’t very excited. He did know about this award; it has some gold content, but it’s said to be a bit exclusive, with major awards basically reserved for insiders.
For an obvious outsider like Teacher Yu Wei, he probably could only get a nomination at most.
The success of any work cannot be separated from era factors. “Sound Mixer” might have been a masterpiece back then, but facing a new environment and occasion, it may not necessarily have the last laugh.
But after all, it’s the first film; getting a nomination is already quite good. This is a very good start.
The microfilm organizing committee wanted to record it, and the “Music Blind Box” program team naturally wouldn’t be an exception; they immediately called Old Zhang to follow up.
Teacher Yu Wei was currently recording their program; this is called being closest to the water gets the moon first.
“What does it feel like to get a nomination?”
Old Zhang took on the reporter’s role and hurriedly arranged an exclusive interview for Teacher Yu Wei during the program recording.
“Pretty unexpected.”
“Not excited?”
“It’s okay; so many short films are shortlisted, and ‘Sound Mixer’ is just one of them.”
What’s awesome is that this film isn’t his, so there’s nothing to get excited about.
Old Zhang frowned; hearing this, it seemed there was no need to be so excited…
No, this is still the first time a domestic microfilm has been shortlisted for the Louvain Award; it’s still worth celebrating. He almost got away with slacking off successfully.
“Are you confident about the work winning an award?”
“It’s okay; all shortlisted works have the possibility of winning.”
Teacher Yu Wei really wasn’t slacking off; actually, he didn’t have much expectation. But after all, it was an interview, so he couldn’t appear too pessimistic.
Old Zhang wasn’t a professional reporter after all; after being stumped twice, he didn’t know what to say for a moment, so he simply had Teacher Yu Wei talk about the advantages of this film.
Getting so professional?
Old Zhang had no choice; he had to pad the interview length somehow, otherwise, what kind of interview was it? The previous two sentences were just casual chat at most.
Netizens had already analyzed this pretty thoroughly, but since it was an interview, Teacher Yu Wei still racked his brains and talked about some.
European judges have a bias toward “psychological thriller + social critique”; “Sound Mixer” does very well in this aspect, so getting a nomination isn’t surprising.
The identity of the piano tuner carries the foundation of Western classical art, and the setting of pretending to be blind touches on trust crises; these are all very suitable for the Western environment.
The essence of international major awards is to cater to their preferences; sometimes not winning doesn’t mean it’s not good enough, just that they don’t like it.
Especially in recent years, the gold content of many major awards has been getting lower; after all, besides the work itself, it also depends on whether it’s politically correct.
Reality really isn’t as good as entertainment novels; in entertainment novels, good movies can win awards, but in reality, not being attacked by special groups is already pretty good…
Teacher Yu Wei handled a small interview with ease, but he suddenly realized something: after being selected, did he need to go on-site?
Although the chance of winning isn’t high, not going at all would be a bit disrespectful to the judges. There’s still half a month until the award ceremony; he’ll see then.
When he was doing the interview, the news of “Sound Mixer” getting nominated for the Louvain International Film Festival had already spread on internet platforms.
If it were some other small team shortlisted, the response might not be this high, but this person is Teacher Yu Wei.
He has always been at the center of topics without coming down; this microfilm hit the gun muzzle, with related entries quickly rising and soon entering the top of the hot list.
Actually, most netizens don’t know about the Louvain Film Festival, but getting an international nomination must be a good thing.
Film critics and media took the lead in following up, stating that this is not only a victory for one work but also marks an elevation in the overall production standard of domestic short films and the right to speak in international artistic expression.
Several media took turns appearing; even if netizens didn’t understand, they got it: Teacher Yu Wei handled this very awesomely.
“‘Sound Mixer’ is well-deserved; this film feels like it has the style of Western works, and sure enough, it got nominated.”
“Teacher Yu Wei is still strong; getting an international nomination on his first acting gig? Don’t forget the script was also written by him.”
“It’s bad; if he doesn’t win the award, he’ll definitely be settled by haters and fan circle fans. Off-season strongest idol, terrifying.”
“Being shortlisted is better than staying home; Sound Mixer, charge!”
“Any big birds to introduce the Louvain International Film Festival?”
Netizens were chatting enthusiastically, and Teacher Yu Wei immediately received messages from director Lu Zhou and agent Liu Ning.
Teacher Yu Wei is quite salted fish; Qi Luo An doesn’t care about these. If asked who is most excited about “Sound Mixer” getting nominated, it’s absolutely Lu Zhou, the down-and-out MV director.
Taking Teacher Yu Wei’s MV job was the most correct decision of his life; a failure director like him actually transformed into a nominated director at an international film festival…
If he could snag an award too, he would instantly gain real right to speak from the roadside; he was directly carried to fly by Teacher Yu Wei!
“Teacher Yu, from now on I’ll follow your lead; if there’s anything I can help with later, call me anytime, no charge!”
That’s great; Teacher Yu Wei will probably be short on manpower when shooting “Charlotte Troubles” later, especially the leadership team.
He doesn’t dare to use Qi Yunming’s people honestly; failing so many movies isn’t without reason. He still needs his own team.
Liu Ning’s words were the company’s intention; Ying Huo Hua Wen will help Teacher Yu Wei fan the flames. If he plans to go to the film festival site then, they’ll negotiate with the program team.
Teacher Yu Wei still somewhat underestimated the value of this nomination. According to Liu Ning, the company received quite a few calls in one afternoon, all intending to cooperate on “Charlotte Troubles” and “One Person’s Martial World.”
A screenwriter recognized by an international film festival, regardless of quality, is at least maxed out in commerciality; investing isn’t a loss.
The former is non-negotiable, but the latter can be discussed, though he has to first write the movie release plot in the novel.
He hasn’t had time these days; other guests experience two days of life and practice singing for three days, but Teacher Yu Wei spent three and a half days just on the round trip, and he’s the one who should practice the most.
The time left for him and Liu Wang is running out…
Just as Teacher Yu Wei planned to sing two rounds to Liu Wang in the car to tune his ears, the mobile phone ringtone rang again; surprisingly, it was Qi Yuan’s call.
This is, scouting the enemy?
“Congratulations on getting the international nomination.”
Qi Yuan’s tone carried seven parts sincerity and three parts melancholy; “Sound Mixer” is absolutely his biggest pain. He knew nothing about this film, yet everyone around him participated.
He was already imbalanced inside, and now it’s great—directly nominated for the Louvain International Film Festival. Even Zhang Lingye, who played the corpse, benefited…
He is a meritorious corpse, a nominated corpse, much stronger than himself who has only acted in costume idol dramas.
“Thanks, buddy.”
With the competition imminent, calling to congratulate at this time is quite rare.
Honestly, after losing the previous live singing, Qi Yuan had comforted himself that at least he could act, unlike Teacher Yu Wei.
Who knew that later “Sound Mixer” came out, with Teacher Yu Wei’s blind person acting skills jaw-dropping; anyway, he couldn’t act at that level.
Now, even in the acting path, he was far thrown behind by Teacher Yu Wei…
“I will definitely win.”
Qi Yuan’s tone was obviously a bit lacking in confidence because just now, he suddenly realized that even if he won, it wouldn’t prove anything.
He won with Grandfather’s song; does that mean he’s stronger than Teacher Yu Wei? No, Teacher Yu Wei is just starting out, but this is Chen Ping’s peak-era work.
Qi Yuan also knew this was unfair to Teacher Yu Wei, but he just wanted to win once, even if the win is ugly…
This dark thought tormented him greatly.
“Good luck; compete well.”
Teacher Yu Wei’s encouragement was sincere; he didn’t want Qi Yuan to disgrace Old Senior Chen’s reputation. If he didn’t sing well, whose song would be wasted.
Qi Yuan agreed upon hearing this; now he didn’t think about anything else, just wanted to compete properly with Teacher Yu Wei and put an end to his unwillingness.
After all, he has no grudge against Teacher Yu Wei; in the end, it’s just his heart acting up.
“This song of mine isn’t simple.”
Qi Yuan laid a smokescreen and probed: “This song is well-written.”
Teacher Yu Wei smiled without speaking; isolated again, huh… Zhang Lingye and Qi Luo An had already greeted him.
You know nothing about connections!
“This song is really different; I can tell you—it’s Chen Ping’s song. You’ve heard of him, right?”
Seeing no reaction from Teacher Yu Wei, Qi Yuan got a bit anxious and simply revealed it himself, so Teacher Yu Wei could mentally prepare and train seriously.
Although he had guessed, hearing it firsthand still excited him a bit. He wondered what a work from another world would be like?
“That’s great; hurry up then.”
Qi Yuan: ?
