In 2000, Gong won her second international Best Actress trophy for her performance as a struggling single mother in "Breaking the Silence" (2000) at the Montreal Film Festival, directed by Sun Zhou. She attended the Montreal Film Festival that year, where she was awarded a special Grand Prix of the Americas for lifetime achievement for her outstanding achievement. In the same year, Gong was invited by the Berlin Film Festival to be the president of its international jury for the festival's 50th anniversary.