Yang says he was overwhelmed to be nominated, as the festival is known for preferring titles mirroring social conflict and political turbulence.

"Crosscurrentis not quite about these things. So, I suppose to some extent the win hints at a change at the festival," says Yang.

Now, thanks to the spotlight from Berlin, Yang says he has more freedom.

His ongoing production is a sci-fi epic based on Hugo Award-winning novelist Hao Jingfang's The Last Brave Man.

Yang says the Berlin festival is a "Chinese-friendly" event, which promotes Chinese cinema to the world. And his words carry some weight.

During the past decades, the festival has discovered a series of outstanding Chinese film talent, from Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghumin 1988) and Ang Lee(The Wedding Banquetin 1993) to Wang Quan'an, also the director of Apart Together.

If you go

Goethe-Institut China: Originality Square, 798 Art Zone, No 2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang district.

The French Institute: Guangcai International Mansion, 18 Gongti Xilu, Chaoyang district.

Ullens Center for Contemporary Art: 798 Art Zone.