En la Cama

I can't help but wish I was more clued into the South American film industry -

Having watched and fallen in love with the 2002 Argentinian film Valentine by Alejandro Agresti, and now 2005's Chilean star En la Cama by Matias Bize I'm wondering why it took so long for me to find out about these films?

Hollywood should take some notes from both of these directors who have managed to create what would be named so-called chick flicks in the US while avoiding all the schmaltzy, condescension normally aimed at western woman and found in theaters all over the US.

Both these films have a focus on love and it's human complexity. Valentine focuses on the love between a child and his relatives and how that love, given or denied, shapes the relationships we muddle through the rest of our lives. En la Cama focuses more on the love, or connection, that can be felt between two adults (in this case strangers) and how our actions, normally products of our past history, can potentially change the shape of the future no matter how trapped we may feel.

Brilliantly acted, as an audience I was captivated by these characters' stories and rolled with their emotions. The directors shared their points of view on relationships and how they play out, and yet the endings left the audience to decide for themselves the answers to some of the questions and points raised. I was not spoon fed ideals about life or satisfied with a hollywood ending, and still left the movie feeling fuller and more complete than I have for a long time.

Definitely directors I could learn a lot from and who have a great respect for their audiences. I can't wait to see what else they create. World stand up and watch - South American film has many a great thing to say, and I think the world could use the inspiration.

Participant Media

I found this website for a company called Participant Media when I was searching through some green websites.  This company is really doing so much for the film world and the world in general by focusing on films that deal with very important social issues in the world right now - one of which is Food, Inc.

This is the kind of media company I would love to work for, focusing on meaningful films that add to the world voice rather than just creating dissonance.  Check them out!  Their social action programs center around the themes of the films allowing viewers to get involved either by learning more or by taking action online or in the local/ national arena once they have seen the films and connected with them.

The world needs more companies like Participant Media!

The Interpreter - Movie Review (spoiler alert)

I have to admit that this film interested me purely from a TCK standpoint.  I've been meaning to watch it for ages, but only just now got the chance through Netflix now that Macs can also watch instantly online.  For that function I am very grateful!

Nicole Kidman's character in this film, Silvia Broome, fascinated me.  It was great to finally see an ATCK character up on the mainstream silver screen.  I was shocked, however, to learn that none of the writers of the film have a personal connection to Africa that I could find, yet they managed to write an ATCK character who did not feel like a stereotype of what they thought a white African woman would be like.  Of course it goes without saying that they are excellent screenwriters, but when it comes to a character like Silvia Broome I doubt writing her was second nature seeing as you don't come across many white African ATCKs in the US, even these days.  

Silvia blended in very well with her surroundings in New York and at the UN allowing her to pretty much hide her true self and cultural identity.  Even her accent (although most of the time Nicole Kidman just sounded like her Aussie self to me) was hard to link to a specific part of the world, a difficulty with most New Yorkers as so many are not native to the city.  This blending worked extremely well in terms of portraying an ATCK character in a movie.  Had the screenwriters read Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds by David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken?  I would be shocked if they had, but did they realize how on the nail they were with Silvia's Hidden Immigrant characterization?

Maybe the idea of hidden immigrant is obvious to those outside the TCK circle making it a natural and fitting choice to make Silvia one in the film.  Or could it be luck that they happened in on a very important detail of this character's life and characterization simply because she worked at the UN and left a dangerous secret life behind her in Africa making her inherently secretive and not what she seemed?  I am inclined to believe the latter, but if the prior is true then I would be very impressed.

Personally, the film's success seemed due to the fact that the filmmakers were willing to focus on the life of a white African woman who struggles with her identity, culture and home country in a film.  It helped me figure out some important points in portraying a character such as Silvia Broome in a film.  The writers were not scared to show Silvia's roots in a foreign country and how that culture influenced her character and choices through personal nuances that created a character that is multi-dimensional.  I think the writers did an amazing job and Nicole played the character perfectly with her calm exterior overriding an interior life full of sorrow and heartache and experiences hidden and misunderstood by those around her in New York.  

Although this theme of the struggle of identity and belonging has been widely explored by filmmakers, it has not been explored as much in terms of TCKs and is something I hope continues especially for the sake of the growing TCK community.  We can no longer hide from the fact that skin color, accent or historical nationality point to almost little to nothing in terms of a persons true personal national identity or culture.  This is especially when faced with the fact that most people do not grow up in a vacuum of one culture that determines their identity anymore.  We are all a mixed bag, TCKs more than others, and should be forthcoming about telling our stories without fear of being misunderstood because I believe much can be learned from cultural chameleons such as ourselves.

As much as I enjoyed this film I do have one issue with it.  This issue relates to the question of whether we really need another film about a white woman who needs to be saved by a white man from the conflicts of Africa.  Unfortunately most mainstream films made about Africa or with a focus on Africa have white people as protagonists.  There are many African films that don't, but the mainstream western world has not had as much exposure to these films perpetuating stereotyping and racism that has been and can still be inherent in the film world.  The question of whether or not white protagonists living in Africa, or with a connection to the continent, really need more screen time is something I have been struggling with when pondering the films that play out in my head.

As a white woman who grew up in Africa I would love to write a film that I could connect to in terms of my history and the struggle it often was to be white in Africa.  The question is how to do this without audiences misunderstanding the motive behind the film, especially because so many other people in Africa have to struggle so much harder just to survive day to day.  I don't wish to write films in order to gain sympathy for 'those poor white people struggling in Africa', but want simply to tell the tales of life as a white person in Africa, as an African, for good or bad.  

I do also hope to write stories that tell the tales of all those who have lived or do live in the Africa I knew, but I don't always feel I have the understanding or personal experience to do all these complex characters justice in written form right now.  However, I do feel I can write about what I know.  This is growing up as a white girl in Africa, going to school with kids of 42 different nationalities.  It was a privileged life and not one that many people will be able to or will necessarily want to connect to.

Ultimately no matter what I write, one reality is that the subject matter may not be a familiar one and the characters not necessarily from the same culture or social class as the audience.  Hopefully though, I can still create films that connect with the audience emotionally just as was done in The Interpreter.  Silvia may have been a white woman from Africa but she was still human and therefore, I believe, universally connected to everyone.

One thing The Interpreter did a great job of that I am very thankful for is the job of bringing an African subject to the forefront of Hollywood.  There are so many and varied African tales to be told, all of which we can learn precious lessons from that it's about time we saw them up on the screen.  Whether people appreciate them or not is another matter.  Hopefully audiences will leave the theatre feeling like Sean Penn's character, Tobin Keller, at the end of the movie; enchanted by another character who he doesn't quite understand but is draw to by the depth of spirit and character under the surface, often hidden away, but when drawn out, beautiful and full of wisdom and hope for the future.

Food, Inc.

I just found out about this documentary called Food, Inc. from Current.com.  It has a release date sometime in June and looks to be a very interesting and important documentary to see. 

As someone who has been buying organic religiously since I started living in New York I am fascinated to see what documentarian Robert Kenner has found to be going on behind the scenes in the food industry for years.  When I mentioned the film to people that I work with their reaction is one of 'don't ask, don't tell'.  While I understand this reaction in the face of learning the reality behind the food we have been eating for years, like most of the environmental issues we are facing today this head in the sand solution is no longer something I feel we can do.  This is of course unless we are willing to sacrifice the future of generations to come for power, money and that quick filling bite that just doesn't quite taste as it should.

On the Current website there are links to other documentaries by European documentarians which will undoubtably never be shown on TV in the US but are definitely worth a look.  The subject matter borders on conspiracy theory but as far as I'm concerned when it comes to aspects of life in which the people in power believe they can manipulate for more power and money there is no length they won't go to control for better or worse.

At a recent film festival Robert Kenner said that he didn't start out with this project to become the next Michael Moore.  This will hopefully give Food Inc. more air time or credibility than people allow of Moore's films.  I personally am a HUGE fan of Michael Moore's and wish there were more filmmakers out there willing to take the risks he takes to uncover the reality of what is happening in this country.  I guess I will just have to wait to see whether this is also the case with Food Inc.

Post Charleston International Film Festival

I didn't end up winning an award at the festival in Charleston this year, but did end up winning 2nd place in the short competition at the 2009 Las Vegas Film Festival.  I had no idea I was even a finalist!  I learned of my success from an email I received  detailing how to receive your award!  

This awesome news made my stay in Charleston and while I wish I had gone to the Las Vegas Film Festival instead of the Charleston Festival, I feel that I learned a lot from the Charleston experience that I might not have realized had I gone to Las Vegas.

As with many things in the film world a lot of your success comes from the research that you do and the knowledge about the industry that you acquire from that research.  Our producing professor Michael Nolin always told us to research like crazy when thinking about pitching, promoting, marketing or distributing our films.  Question who your audience is - who is watching?  

In hindsight I should have investigated further into the festival before deciding to travel down from New York to South Carolina as a screenwriting finalist - not the easiest way to do the festival circuit because it's not as if you can bring people along to read your script in the way you might if you are screening a film.  However, as my first solo festival excursion it was very informative and I learned that while I didn't really meet anyone associated with the festival or the industry I did pitch my film to a local lady at a restaurant and have great conversations about the film world with every cab driver that took me back and forth from my hotel to the theatre.  This led me to realize I am not as bad at networking as I previously thought - I just need to be smarter about how I go about networking and where I choose to do it!

Now...what to do with those 50 business cards I got printed?

Day 3 - Charleston International Film Festival

I was going to start the day off with a Script to Screen Panel and Q&A, but couldn't bare the thought of listening to professionals talk about how it's important to format your script correctly as a basis for showing you're a professional.  I'm sure I would have learned something new as you always do at these things, but I decided to sleep in a little longer and head to the Terrace theater to watch block 1 instead.

This block began with a beautiful short based on a true story, called Una Vida Mejor.  The films simplicity in its telling is what impressed me the most.  The main actors (3 children) did a magnificent job as Mexican children struggling to cross the US border in hopes of a better life with their father.  Truly a heartbreaking short that hopefully will receive the acclaim it deserves on the festival circuit.

This short was followed by a documentary called S.O.B and the Legend of Alan Schafer made by two young local men for a documentary project at their school.  They picked a very interesting topic for their documentary and I learned a lot more about South Of The Border than I ever thought I would in this lifetime.  Unfortunately, their student status was very apparent throughout the documentary (which seemed to be lost on the audience, most of whom were friends and family) with out of focus interviews that continued throughout the entire documentary and no obvious thought for camera position or placement.  Sometimes the interviewees sat with their hands in front of their faces for entire segments in which they were speaking.  A gallant first try by the two students and definitely a screen worthy subject.  

There was definite possibility to be had in this doc and in the filmmakers, but the fact that the documentary ended up winning the audience choice award for Best Doc just proves how sold-out and international this festival was in comparison to how the festival was portrayed in the publicity surrounding it, i.e. - hardly sold out and international only in the fact that I was present.  That's my spin on it anyway.

I decided to follow this first block of films with the South Carolina Production Fund and the State of Film in South Carolina panel, which turned out to be very interesting.  The two men leading the panel were both members of the South Carolina Film Commission and while lacking a general knowledge about that actual film making process they were extremely knowledgeable about the Film Commission and the state of film making not only in SC, but also in the surrounding southern states and further afield.  I had no idea that local filmmakers could post their resumes up on the Film Commission website in order to attract productions  to South Carolina.  I must admit that my knowledge of Film Commissions is lacking now that I see how much they have to offer and how much can be learned from them in terms of where jobs can be found.  A lot of this information can simply be deduced from the different incentives state Film Commissions are offering and what this means to independent and Hollywood productions.  This hour long panel was very informative and definitely a highlight of the festival - and I got a free t-shirt!

I closed out Saturday with film block 3.  This started with a short called Born of The Metropolis IV, another local spoof production based on an advertisement promoting the work of highly trained female assassins.  It was cute and attention grabbing for the most part.  

This was followed by a Kung Fu Comedy from North Carolina called Golden Blade III:  Return of the Monkey's Uncle.  While not my cup of tea normally and difficult to sit through in it's entirety it was extremely well done and executed by a cast and crew of filmmakers who really knew what they were trying to create.  The stunts and martial arts in the film were excellent and completely believable (even forgetting the film is a comedy).  The jokes were hardly rip roaring, but every detail was thought of and anyone who enjoys Kung Fu movies will love this parody of the genre.  We were even treated to an impromptu martial arts demonstration by the films lead actor after the screening and then encouraged to buy merchandise associated with the film from a van outside the theater!  These filmmakers really know their audience and do a great job of guerrilla marketing.  Kudos to what they are trying to do with their film.

From then on, nothing in the schedule caught my fancy  so I headed back to my hotel to enjoy the end of the weekend and await the award ceremony results.

Day 2 - Charleston IFF

The schedule on Friday started later in the afternoon allowing visitors to explore downtown Charleston and do a bit of sightseeing, and workers to finish their jobs for the day.

The first block started with a documentary from South Carolina which I skipped in order to watch a Portuguese feature at 4:40pm.  I can't say I've seen many or actually any Portuguese films so felt it was a good opportunity to get a feel for the kinds of films made in Portugal. 

This block was opened by an Australian short called Lover's Walk.  This so-so short is about an aging couple and their daughter who comes to understand their complicated but co-dependent relationship when they are both forced to enter nursing homes as their health declines.  The film is overly sentimental with flashbacks used as a means of explaining how their relationship has changed over the years.  The actors in the flashbacks do not fit with their aged counterparts making the film rather unbelievable.  The subject matter is good and definitely explores issues that most films don't explore in depth.  This would be interesting as a feature which would allow more time to explore the characters and their relationships.

The Portuguese feature Good Night Irene followed.  I don't know if it was just horribly shot or whether the copy of the film that was played was damaged but the film looked terrible.  The entire audio was distorted and the music was so loud in parts that it made the dialogue impossible to understand.  While I tried to find meaning throughout the film I didn't really understand why I was watching this film.  There were many random scenes that didn't add to the film but tried to build relationships that took way to long in their realization.  For me it was a rambling mess in which the main character (in no way a likable character or one I could connect to as an audience member) took one and a half hours to realize that other people are what make life worth living.  

This film has been selected as a finalist in a few notable film festivals so I must just be missing something.  The film's website looks and sounds really good leading me to wonder if it was the projectionist at the festival who was the main problem in terms of sound and vision.  The director Paolo Marinou-Blanco is someone I'd like to keep my eye on however as a fellow global nomad.  I can't fault him for creating a film that doesn't just pander to the Hollywood prototype.  As much as I didn't like this film I would be interested to see what Paolo makes next.

Block 3

I followed the feature with a block of shorts in the hopes I'd watch something interesting!  This block definitely turned out to be a gold mine of interesting films.

First was a local comedy spoof called The Merkin Man based on the regional public television of South Carolina.  It was funny at times and a good parody of local TV, although I'm sure I would have found it funnier had I seen the local TV or lived in South Carolina.  Most of the jokes appreciated by the audience seemed to be understood by the audience because they were friends of the filmmaker which made the short rather indulgent.  However, I could see it as a sketch on SNL and appreciated its appeal for that reason.

Next was a gorgeous short called The Big Fat Lazy Sun by Daniel Brothers.  It was a sight to see and the music used was excellent.  Whoever shot this short has great talent and reminds me of shorts made by a talented cinematographer called Kevin Phillips that came out of SCAD while I was a student there.  Check out his reel here. 

This short has a great storyline although I did lose the plot close to the end.  I don't know if that was because the speech and music got so mixed up that I missed what was being said (although that could have been intentional) or just because I expected the storyline to be more linear.  Overall though it is one of the most creative and engaging shorts I've seen so far.  I want to hire this cinematographer!

The 8th Samurai

Definitely my favorite short of the festival and no shock that it's an AFI film!  Excellent short with humor and drama in the storyline which was highly unpredictable making it a complete gem.  The black and white photography was beautiful and the performances were unforgettable.  Literally there is nothing bad or negative I can say about that short.  Definitely a must see if there is a chance!  LOVE IT!

A Thing Of The Past

This short was a great try but looked too amateurish.  The art direction really let the film down and the acting was not the best.  Like a lot of other films at the festival the subject matter was definitely film worthy, but overall a letdown.  Definitely a subject matter that needs more time on screen though so I'm glad the filmmakers were selected for the festival.

There was a problem with the last film of this block La Loteria which was unfortunate because this short was the reason I watched this block of films.  After sitting in the dark for about 10 minutes we were told they would play us a festival favorite called Wish but after another 10 minutes we were still sitting in the dark.  Unfortunately for us they then played another film instead.  This film was a winner in last years CIFF.  

Tangled Web

Knowing this film was the winner in last years CIFF awards made me cringe.  This was the worst film I saw the entire festival and I was not the only person in the audience who felt that way.  There was a collective groan when the film ended and people quickly got up to leave when the film started to replay for a second time.  If the film was supposed to be a parody then it would be genius but it was cliched, badly acted (the main actress won an acting award last year and was so fake it was painful to watch) and the cinematography was inconsistent with half looking like a Hollywood feature and the other cinematography 101.  One of the main characters was Michael Urie who plays Marc St. James on Ugly Betty.  My question for him would be 'What were you thinking?'.  My question to the Jury at the 2008 CIFF would be a simple 'What?'.

After that painful end to my favorite block of films in the festival so far I was hoping to get another chance to see Wish in Block 5.  Unfortunately they were still having problems playing the disc so The Beneficiary was played instead.  

The Beneficiary

This short film was really well shot with cinematography stylized to suit the subject matter.  The acting is really good although I didn't believe that the main actress would be married to an  aging abusive truck driver.  Their relationship was never explained and just to add to that confusion was the inclusion of a random woman at the end of the film who ended up with some money (I'm guessing she was supposed to be the truck drivers ex-wife).  However, those were the only parts of the film that seemed misplaced.  The ending was rather unresolved, but as the master of unresolved short film endings I can hardly criticize.  Overall a good short that I was glad I got a chance to see over Wish.

The End

The British documentary The End was the highlight of this block and ended up winning the award for best documentary at the festival this year.  About gangsters from the East End of London this documentary focused on roughly eight interesting 'characters' who grew up in the East End of London before immigrants moved into the area and native Eastenders moved out to the suburbs.  While highly stylized it was obvious that no added detail had been left out in order to make a cohesive documentary about a side of British life normally highlighted in negative British press that has only otherwise been explored in films such as those by Guy Ritchie (e.g. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch).

With the daughter of one of the so-called gangsters directing, the filmmakers were able to get interviews that may otherwise not have been as honest or revealing from people who are normally ignored by the general press or only portrayed in negative light.  Unfortunately, at one point the interviews did seem to get almost too revealing, becoming slightly racist in my point of view.  The characters revealed a side of life in the UK that is normally glossed over - that of white, native Brits feeling pushed out and alienated from current British life and culture due to all the different races of people that now make up the British Isles.  While the documentary highlighted a tension in the British community between older generations of native Brits and so-called 'foreigners' it did little to explain how this has changed the UK other than by pushing the Eastenders out of the East End of London making the East End (for the protagonists) not the London they once considered it.  This segment of the film definitely sentimentalized the time when the East End was run by these so-called gangsters making the East End, in their opinion, much safer and a time when everyone could leave their doors open and feel safe.  

Overall I'm not 100% sure what the filmmaker was trying to say with this documentary, which could have been because as one of the main character's daughters whose life did not go in the same direction as her father, this film was more an exploration of a side of life she wasn't necessarily living first hand, but was exposed to growing up.

This film is definitely worth a watch and although extremely disturbing in parts an original project that deserves exposure in the film world.

Day 1 - Charleston IFF

I always enjoy going back down south, enjoying the friendly people, the laid-back atmosphere and the weather after cold, busy and stressed out New York.  This was my experience as soon as I got in the cab at the airport in Charleston.  

I felt a bit unprepared as we didn't get much information about what was going on apart from the schedule that is available on the film festival website.  I'm not sure if this is normal for most festivals and later on I realized that it was simply a taste of my time yet to come in Charleston.

I arrived for the mixer on Thursday at 5pm advertised as the event to kick off the festival.  I was the first person to pick up my pass from the theatre which made it hard to differenciate between who at the festival was a filmmaker and who was a member of the general public.  I was given a small sample of food from the restaurant in the hopes that I would then buy dinner.  However, having already eaten I only bought a beer and read through the schedule booklet to keep myself busy.  The booklet was really well done and had a very interesting selection of films, a lot of which were from North and South Carolina and made by students at the local film and media colleges.

I did ended up meeting a really nice lady who sat next to me, but unfortunately she had just come into the restaurant for dinner.  I was able to pitch my screenplay to her which was great practice so I was glad I had introduced myself proving that I wasn't as scared of or as bad at networking as I thought!  Just a shame it wasn't someone part of the festival.

I headed into the first block of films opened by a local filmmaker.  His film called Search is about a local hotel worker who feels an affinity to a young autistic boy who has gone missing. She starts researching into his disappearance as she struggles with her own medical problems. We learn that the boy has died of exposure in the woods but continues to visit the woman as her medical problems get worse.  In the end she dies and joins the boy in the after life.

The film did have some interesting shots in it and the story line was worthy of a short film, but tended to lean toward the sentimental and the relationship between the boy and the woman could have been more fully explored in order to connect the audience with these characters better.

The feature that followed was an Australian film called The Black Balloon by Elissa Down.  The theatre was in no way sold out but the reaction from the people in the audience around me was powerful.  This is a beautiful character story based on some really challenging issues.  I really connected with the main characters all of whom gave stellar performances full of emotion.  While some reviewers have found the film too sentimental and glossy I think that the writer and director did a great job of balancing the emotional highs with great humor that gives so much insight into the Australian culture.  Definitely my favorite film of the year so far!  A must see!

Seeing that my hopes of meeting lots of people in the industry were so far not yet met I decided to make the most of my pass and watch as many movies as possible so I headed into block number 4.  This block consisted of two animations and a road movie called Fix.

In the theatre most people were locals or festival goers without passes again giving me no clue who anyone was (passes are great openers if you can read them so people don't become nameless bodies in the crowd).  I did unknowingly meet one of the co-founders of the festival who introduced themselves using only their name.  They told me where to get tickets once I told them my name and showed them my pass, but that was it in terms of a greeting and it wasn't until they were later introduced before one of the movies that I made the connection to who they were.  No disrespect because they were very friendly and nice, but I just thought that a co-founder would have done more to connect with someone who submitted to the festival and was selected.  Was it because I was only a screenwriter and wasn't showing a film?  I have no idea. Maybe it was because I wasn't local, but I have a feeling that the biggest connections made by the creators of the festival were with those that they already knew locally or out-of-state (if their were any...I have a feeling I may have been the only crazy one to spend money going down there during a recession!) 

The first animation called Toumai was stylized in a way I had never before seen and beautiful to look at.  I have no idea how you would describe the style as animation is definitely not an art I know much about.  The story is about a man who struggles to defy nature by creating the ultimate man-made flying machine.  I really liked the animation although I didn't really understand what was going on in the story until it was over.  Definitely worth a watch though.

The next animation called High Hopes was created around comedian Steve Hofstetter's stand-up comedy.  I had never heard of this comedian before, but I enjoyed his humor and felt that the animation did a great job of representing the tone and ideas behind the jokes.  Interesting watch!

The road movie Fix was reviewed as a mix between Go and Arrested Development which had me a little worried as that kind of comedy takes me time to get into.  However I loved Go so decided to give it a shot.  The idea was interesting - Milo getting his brother to rehab in the 15 hours he has after he leaves jail to get to the rehab center.  I really enjoyed the beginning of the film, but ultimately what kept me from really getting behind the film was the performances.  For how antagonistic the characters were towards each other there was too much grinning going on to really believe this was how the characters felt.  I thought the main actress was the weakest link and unfortunately for me she was on the screen for most of the film.  The filming style reminded me of Cloverfield but with less shakiness.  Some of the shots felt really forced and unnatural just to get the action that was taking place when the camera was supposed to be off.  However, the audience seemed to enjoy it so I think that this film just wasn't my thing.  Ultimately the writing ruined the film right in the opening for me.  The main characters spoke about how they didn't want to make a film about a dysfunctional, rich-kid, drug addict who had no real reason to make such a mess of his life making audiences not feel bad for him - by the end of the film this is exactly how I felt.  That was dangerous ground to walk so early on and I may not really have focused on that idea if it hadn't been stated by the actors so early on.  It was like a filmmaker disclaimer for what we were about to watch.

Some technical errors in the projection booth during the screeners, nothing huge but they didn't end up being the only errors this weekend, unfortunately.  

Having sat through two blocks of films and one mixer a theme started to occur to me.  Most of the people around me seemed to be local movie-goers or friends and family of the filmmakers all of whom were local.  While it's great that the local film community has a film festival to bring them together to make connections and learn how to improve the industry in the area, as an out-of-stater who's a foreigner in the country for the most part I felt very far removed from the festival social scene.  I had no idea how to assimilate myself with any of the filmmakers at the festival because they were constantly surrounded by the people in their movies or family.  For an international festival it all seemed very local to me.

Spent about $20 on taxis today.  The email correspondence I received prior to my arrival had said that those from New York could walk to the theatre from the hotels suggested although it might take a while.  I was hoping this might be true, but I would have had to walk along a two-lane highway and over a bridge (some of which had no real sidewalk).  While it wouldn't have been impossible to walk to the theatre there's a reason why everyone in southern cities have cars - it's not very realistic to walk.  Note to self:  next time rent a car!

2009 Charleston International Film Festival De-Brief

I've been to a few festivals now, but always as a student or to support a fellow filmmaker.  So, as a finalist in the 2009 Charleston International Film Festival screenplay competition I took the opportunity to attend a festival as a filmmaker and went down to South Carolina last weekend.

I knew that going down alone would be a challenge seeing as I am not the most confident networker in the world, but I got my business cards printed, my pitches solid in my mind and made my way down south again.