The cold is sharp, biting but gratefully little wind. Time to take cover in the museum. A banner stretched across the two story rectangular box of tinted glass and concrete announces the film festival. Tartu is a university town so I anticipate students and professors will make up a large part of the audience. There is a small museum shop - really just a glass counter and some shelves with a few items for sale representing traditional Estonian culture. Opposite this, on the other side of the entrance is a small cafe where a group of guest filmmakers are sharing breakfast. There's a buzz of activity. I'm greeted warmly by the festival coordinators who I barely recognized from the night before. Everyone is so welcoming, any anxiety I might have harbored completely disappears.
English is the official language of the festival though the program is printed also in Estonian. There is a large monitor in the cafe so if there is an overflow crowd from the screening rooms on the second floor, the films can still be watched while you drink a cup of espresso. Upstairs I'm pleasantly surprised by the setup of the room. Very accommodating for such an event where audience participation is encouraged. There was a small raised platform in front where the speakers would sit, microphones were set on the table. The good size screen gave everyone in the room an unobstructed view. Another overflow room down the hall allowed for people to sit around in informal small groups in chairs or on large pillows on the floor.
It was 10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and the place was packed. The kickoff program of 3 animated documentary shorts captured audience attention. Events like this are very helpful in pointing out trends in the industry. The blurring of lines between genres of film, animation and documentary in this instance, is one of those interesting evolutions in the medium. I was very happy that "Suckerfish" a film our company distributes, was the obvious audience favorite with it's mix of personal story telling, recreation of past events, and animation, all to evoke the range of conflicts surrounding Native American identity.
There were breaks for lunch, a big pot of soup and dark bread, served communal style in a first floor common room open to festival participants. A computer with high speed internet connection was also made available for guests and filmmakers all during the festival. Estonia is a very "wired" country when it comes to per capita internet connections. I managed to check my email once - but the moment I stepped off the plane in Tallinn I stopped worrying about the work that was inevitably piling up back at the office.
The day was full of new encounters with filmmakers whose work I know, but had never met, others whose films I learned of for the first time. The last film screened in this segment was a thoroughly delightful documentary about the filmmakers encounters doing field work in a Romanian monastery for nuns. A warm, thoroughly human, at times funny, insightful film. I immediately approached the filmmaker, introduced myself, and told her we would like to offer her a distribution contract. She seemed flattered, excited, and pleased by the offer. I told her I'd email her the information upon my return to Boston. Another young filmmaker overheard this conversation and asked if I'd be able to come to the screening of her film later on in the week. Unfortunately I had to be in Paris that day - so she said she had a copy in DVCAM that she wanted to give me. I don't usually like filmmakers to hand me tapes at events like this, especially when I'm traipsing around between countries and tapes in suitcases can be a problem, but in a weak moment I said O.K.
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Comments: 5
Seattle is a great city for cultural events, glad to see you are a festival goer!