wise after the event
It´s 10.33pm, Saturday night, and I'm using the computer on the ground floor of Linz's OK Centrum. About an hour ago I was on stage upstairs, announcing - on behalf of my fellow jurors and myself - that the winning film this year is Die Unerzogenen (The Unpolished), the fine debut by Pia Marais. The post-ceremony party is well underway, but I am being the dutiful "blogger" and recording my innermost thoughts, fears, desires, and so on. Oh, and in the spirit of my earlier entry, I should mention that this entry is dedicated to the memory of Msistlav Rostropovich, who passed away earlier in the week (a pal of Yeltsin, apparently : fans of The Parallax View may draw their own conclusions...) Back to business: I can state on record that, out of all the festivals where I´ve done jury service (including Rotterdam last year), Crossing Europe 2007´s was the most competitive and of the highest overall standard.
Unprecedentedly for me, there were as many as five movies which I would have been happy to see winning our prize, Pia Marais`s film very much among 'em. I won`t say any more about our deliberations, except that they were enjoyable, funny, not too protracted, and toasted by a glass or two of Bulgarian liquour, as supplied by our Thracian member Mira Staleva. It did turn out to be a very late night, indeed I managed to see the sun rise over the Donau as I sipped a final Krusovece outside the riverside Stadtwerkstatt bar, debating key cultural issues of the day with some youthful Linzers. I even managed to persuade them to come and see some movies at the festival. Juror, publicist, spokesperson... Surely I'll be invited back for Linz 2008??!!
Unprecedentedly for me, there were as many as five movies which I would have been happy to see winning our prize, Pia Marais`s film very much among 'em. I won`t say any more about our deliberations, except that they were enjoyable, funny, not too protracted, and toasted by a glass or two of Bulgarian liquour, as supplied by our Thracian member Mira Staleva. It did turn out to be a very late night, indeed I managed to see the sun rise over the Donau as I sipped a final Krusovece outside the riverside Stadtwerkstatt bar, debating key cultural issues of the day with some youthful Linzers. I even managed to persuade them to come and see some movies at the festival. Juror, publicist, spokesperson... Surely I'll be invited back for Linz 2008??!!
neil_young - 28. Apr, 22:33
