TrueFalse Wrap Up

Hey everyone,
Sorry that I didn't write on Saturday or Sunday. I had a great time down there and got swept up into the shorts world. I loved it. I watched one film on Friday and nine on Saturday. I love short form.

We started with the Oscar shorts. When we arrived at the venue, the door guy said there were two seats left but they were "sketchy." It was really nice of them to squeeze us in. The guy took out two folding chairs and sat us down behind two mannequins that got to sit on a couch. The films were all very good. They opened the program with La Corona a film about a beauty pageant in a woman's penitentary in Bogota, Columbia. The filmmaker, Amanda Micheli was there and she talked about the competition that happens when several documentary crews try to cover one event.

Francisco Bello, director of Salim Baba was also at the screening. His was a beautiful film about a man in India who makes a living by pushing a film projector cart through town and shows reels that he edits together from discarded films. It brings to mind the roots of cinema. Very romantic for film lovers. He suggests keeping up with BBC news if you are interested in international documentary.

I also got to see Freeheld, the Oscar winner. It started a little bumpy but it is extremely emotion. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It deserved to win.

I got to chat with Karen, the shorts programmer and she suggested some showcases that were happening later in the day. We hit up a showcase called Working Title that had a theme of films that are about working people. I had never been to a screening that treated shorts with such respect and that passion for short doc was reflected by the fact that four filmmakers where invited to attend the festival.

The films were great and the makers were extremely friendly. I got to hang out with them for a bit and they invited Diana and I out to dinner. I think it was comforting for Oscar Perez, from Spain, to get to speak Spanish so we talked for a good couple of hours. There were all really nice and down to Earth. They also get treated very well by the festival. They get into most screenings and they get gift certificates for food and massages.

Sunday was supposed to be Taxi to the Darkside day but we decided to sleep in and treat it like a tourist day. We went around town and took pictures of our little rusty statue and we stopped in town one last time. We ended up running into some of the people from the night before and got some fancy juice with them(their's was free, we had to pay) We had apple, orange, beet, ginger juice and it was the tastiest glass of juice that I had ever had. Diana is determined to get a juicer now.

So we ended up leaving town later than expected but we had fun so it was worth it. We stopped in Mexico, MO and had some Mexican food at El Vaquero and then we finally got to see the towns that we had driven through two nights earlier.

I loved the festival overall. They treat their filmmakers very well and everyone is super-approachable. I got a chance to talk to the makers of just about every film that I saw and I even got to talk to two of their programmers. The best thing about the festival is that it manages to stay friendly even thought it is a huge festival and it gets some serious films. It's not just a festival centered around one or two films, each one seems like a can't miss.

The Q system of getting into screenings without advanced tickets sounds intimidating but if you show up before the film starts, they'll do everything they can to get you a seat. The venues are all fun and unique and the special events are entertaining and insightful. I'm really looking forward to attending the festival next year and hope that some of you all will join me.

thanks for listening,
mario