Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Film Festivals and Mikhail Baryshnikov


In just a few days I will be heading to The Berkshire International Film Festival with one of my closest friends (and an incredible artist and designer), Jessica. She’s driving us up there on Friday so we can check out 3 screenings of Milestone! This will be my second time going to this festival and I’m really excited I get to attend again! It’s always such a great feeling when a community comes out to support upcoming filmmakers and watch independent films they may not otherwise have the opportunity to see.

I’ve been really lucky – Milestone has gotten into 11 film festivals so far! The only unfortunate thing is that I haven’t been able to attend all of them. However, the ones I did get to go to were all amazing experiences. Here’s a short rundown...

The Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival was awesome for many reasons. The first was that I got to go with my sister, Karen who I never get to spend much time with. The second was that I was surrounded by other women filmmakers. It was an incredibly supportive feeling being in a town like Los Angeles – where the industry is still primarily run by men - to be surrounded by such great female artists. That was pretty cool.

The Method Fest, which ran at the same time as The Los Angeles Women’s Int’l Film Festival was also pretty amazing! In particular, the shorts program director, Derek Horne was awesome to work with. He was such an advocate for all of the movies and his enthusiasm began from the moment the film was accepted into the festival.

Then there was the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival. So... Although there wasn’t much traveling involved for this fest, it was great to be able to sit with friends and watch the film on a big screen! I was amped for a night in the city but found myself unprepared for what I experienced. Ummmm... Mikhail Baryshnikov was in the audience!! In case you’ve been living under a pointe shoe, Mikhail Baryshnikov is beyond the beyond in terms of dance. I grew up dancing and so I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know his name. Some of you may also know him from “Sex and the City”. I now know him from (and by “know” I mean saw), the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival! Living in NYC, you get kind of used to seeing famous people and it’s not that I’m jaded or anything like that, but when a well known person crosses my path, I tend not to go bonkers and ask for my boob to be signed or something crazy such as that. However had my parents not been in attendance that evening, I think I would have made my way over to Mr. Baryshnikov with one hand gripping a pen and the other pulling my shirt way down. But alas, my skin has not been branded and I’ve been able to shower regularly. I did, however, get to introduce my movie and, though the theater was packed with people, I looked at none of them. I only had eyes for MB. I was elated... He though, may have been a bit perturbed.

Can’t wait who I’ll run into in the Berkshires!

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