6 days, 16 films

I spent much of last week watching films at the 4th Zurich Film Festival. I was fortunate to receive 'industry accreditation' so I got a pass (which I still had to pay for, though not as much as I would have had I not claimed to have been an actress, writer, producer, former film festival chair, lion tamer, fake tanner, fledgling cartographer and inventor of the Internet.

This is the list of films I watched: (the entire list can be found here) (Also - I'm only making a few comments here but that is really not enough ... if you are interested in hearing more, please send me a note and I'll tell all ... or perhaps I'll make my friend Matthew Newton, over at CinemaGoulash review them all...)

Brides of Allah - Doc - well done, about women who are now in prison for having attempted to be or have been involved with suicide bombing...scary stuff
My Life Inside - Doc - well-presented and heart-breaking story... not only about someone accused of a crime, but the larger story of how much of a fair trial can a poor Mexican get in a rich, white Texas town? - made me want to be a law student and work on the case, kind of..
Blindness - feature - interesting concept, but I would not encourage anyone to run out to the theatres and see it (stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo)
Mr. Rakowski - Doc - lots of moving stuff, but can seem a bit as though the son funded this film as therapy to attempt to connect with his distant father and at times feels as though the audience is being manipulated
The Art Star and The Sudanese Twins - Doc - heavy and entertaining on many levels - worth seeing if only to witness the narcissism of the lead character juxtaposed with her apparent desire to help others ... hard to explain - would need to talk about this one ...
Kurtzfilmprogramm Sam Spiegel School (short films from the Sam Spiegel Film School in Israel) - really fabulous series of shorts from Israel.
Boy of Pigs - feature - interesting concept - well-cast, acted and shot. Good script. I think it's worth seeing - many aspects have been done/seen previously, but the combination of story lines works. Met the writer, the producer and director at fest - all 1st timers and it's really a cinderella story of how they made the film ... or at least that's what they are telling us .. I am terribly envious of Gretchen Mol who gets to play a dream part ...
Dunya & Desie - feature - cute girl road trip film - well-done and acted. Based on a popular TV series
Blood Appears (left about 45 mins through) - I didn't get it and didn't really want to
Sweet Mud - feature - autobiographical - about young boy growing up on a Kibbutz in Israel. Many lovely moments and well-worth watching.
Sell Out! - feature - I loved this despite the crazy and oft-times all over the place story line and need for editing ... totally unlike anything you've ever seen - I still have some of the songs in my head and people were quoting from the film around the festival tent - in an 'Office Space' kind of way ...sort of
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired - Doc. - well-done and interesting - learned things I had not known about the director and the case brought against him
A Thousand Oceans- feature - interesting concept about death and after death experiences, but a bit too 'film-school-like' for me. Needed to go farther and be much, much edgier
The Man Who Loved Ynvge - feature - I loved this one too - for many reasons, one of the main ones being the soundtrack - all my favorite 80's tunes - I was rockin' out in the packed theater both times. Great story and v. well acted.
The Hurt Locker - feature - v. good war epic from a new perspective. worth seeing
The Wackness - feature - worth seeing if only for Ben Kingsley's not-typical-for-him-to-play-character ... v. amusing

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I went to a party one night and met Stephen Nemeth almost as soon as I walked in the door, "This is great ice!" I heard him say to the bartender. I had to agree. Crushed, but not to a mush, to a v. small cube ... perfect. Then we began to talk about how ice in Europe is harder to come by than in the states and that was followed by an inquisition by him of me regarding my 'pedigree'. When I told him I was from NH, he asked, "Do you know Paul Hodes?" Well of course I know Paul. Doesn't everyone? But truly - I had the pleasure of knowing him before he was a 'big shot' politician. We used to have lunch every year or so when I was home from NYC and visiting NH. My film business partners and I even consulted with him on a few film projects - needless to say, it was a v. odd but v. cool coincidence.

Turns out that Mr. Nemeth is a fan of NH. He knows Governor Lynch and Paul and is up on all the latest with the state. He is also v. involved in the Democratic party ... so we talked a little Obama-talk and moved on to the festival, etc...

One of the 'paparazzi' that was at the party snapped this shot of us. Notice Stephen is far better at hiding his drink for photos than I am. (Note to self - put the drink down ...)

So, I met some great people and now have a few more resources and connections both in Zurich and in the 'industry' ... now I just need to learn German, finish writing those scripts, finish recording my voice over demo, loose 20 lbs., revamp my website, start my own film festival, make a documentary, get a better haircut and start getting up before noon ...