First of all, there's something I forgot. On Wednesday before hearing Ryan Gosling speak, I snapped a picture of Faye Dunnaway at the American pavilion. This was just after the waiter had spilled drinks all over her table:
-Wednesday Night May 18
Wednesday night was my FIRST red carpet premiere. That's right...my begging finally paid off! I put on my dress my grandmother got me (Hi Mimi!), made my begging sign, and waited outside of the Palais. Ten minutes later, a man came up to me and gave me two tickets! It was the best feeling. Lily and I were in! Soon after, Sophie got a ticket as well. Then, it was off to the red carpet and into the Lumière to choose our seats
Sophie and Lily begging for their tickets.
The red carpet!
Photo Sophie took of me after walking the red carpet steps!
Kirsten Dunst walking the red carpet right outside the theater.
Melancholia is certainly one of the best films I saw at the festival. It was so great to be in the theater with the people who made the film, and I was left blown away. It was beautiful and eerie, and can't wait for it's release in the U.S later in the year. After the premiere it was pretty late, so after catching a taxi back to the residence it was bed time!
Thursday was another day filled with great speakers. Early in the morning (for a college student at least) at 10, we met with filmmaker Paul Cox in the solarium at the top of our residence. Going in expecting to hear about his films and his history, I was pleasantly surprised with something completely different from anything we had heard on the trip:
"Don't imitate life, invent life."
"Reality is riddled with dreams and unrealities."
-Paul Cox
These were just two inspiring, beautiful quotes he shared with us. He brought to light how we can make change in the world, especially through creation. I left with tears in my eyes from a story he shared not only of his kidney transplant that changed his life, but also of a personal experience he had while in the hospital. It made me realize how one's life experiences can be made into art, and how this art can go on to change the world. I hope to be this sort of filmmaker one day.
Next it was on to the American pavilion to hear from a writer at the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips. I had heard Michael speak in Athens before, so it was great to hear him again. He gave some great advice on writing a good film review, and shared a little about his favorites and least favorites at the festival. Even though he didn't like We Need to Talk About Kevin, one of my top 5 favorites, I cut him some slack seeing as he's a famous film critic and all.
Soon after a day filled with talks, I had a delicious pasta dinner at Casanova with Angelique and Chelsea, my future London buddies!
Thursday night it was off to the Majestic hotel, one of the more ritzy places to stay in Cannes. Big stars stay there, and I was hoping to spot one. On the last day of the festival, Chelsea talked to Kirsten Dunst and a couple years ago someone got caught in an elevator with Brad Pitt. Below are some photos at the hotel bar. I went with Will, Sophie, Lily and their friend Raven. You can see my enjoying my $30 drink (gotta splurge every once in a while!):
-Friday May 20
My second Friday at the festival began with by far the happiest movie I had seen--The Artist by Michel Hazanavivus. Want to know what's cool about this movie? It's silent. Done in ultimate 1920s style, the main characters act for as as they do in the pictures they make in the story. It was a great story, had great actors, and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It also made me want to learn how to tap dance...
Speaking of warm and fuzzy, the best part of the day was getting to see the lead actor from one of my favorite films (A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick): Malcolm McDowell. It was truly a surreal experience. As Sophie and I rushed up the steps literally two minutes before the talk was supposed to begin, and not even knowing if we had permission to go in, we saw Malcolm standing in the doorway. We were told we could go take a seat, and I walked right past him on my way inside. Being inches away from the actor from a film I've seen nearly ten times was an out of body experience. Once seated on stage, the program began asking him his thoughts on acting and his personal experiences. They also showed clips from his films. He was charming, funny and engaging. Such a great experience.
This experience was pretty hard to beat, and the screening of La Havre by Aki Kaurismaki didn't come close. It was an okay film and story, but it's not the best I have seen. Moving on.
That night I had a delicious pasta dinner, more than likely did some review writing, and then hit the hay.
I know I sought out to catch up to present day in this post, but in order to give you folks something to read I think I'll save that for the next one (I've been slowly working on this for the past two days...). I'll leave you with a couple of videos: 1) Malcolm speaking about his first day of shooting for A Clockwork Orange 2) An angry French woman screaming at someone on the phone at the train station...she was peeved.
About to head to bed after an afternoon and delicious dinner in Italy. More on that later!
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