I'm not going to review too much in this one, but I generally liked the Panorama no. 2 selection. My favorite piece was "Cœur Léger" (Light Heart) by Marco Gianfreda (Italy, 2011, 15 minutes), which was very emotional and ended poetically. In brief, it involved a young boy spending a lot of time with his friends, probably because of his estranged relationship with his father; and his father, who wanted to kill himself, seemed very sad, quiet, and did not pay much attention to his family it seemed (unless he was directly spoken to)... In the end, the young boy secretly climbs into the back of his father's truck, and his father begins driving. His father attempts to drive himself off into the river but is stopped because his son in the back bangs on the window and gets his attention, "It's me, Luca!" — he said. His father's eyes light up, and he stops the car. Then, after a short conversation, they begin walking and arrive upon a carnival. The young boy asks his father which ride he would like to try. The father, still quiet and strange, says, after looking around, "That one." They climb aboard the ride, and it begins to go. The father tenses up (much like the tension when he's in his car, attempting suicide), but then sees his son in the seat in front of him with his arms spread. "It's like flying!" — his son said (paraphrased). Eventually, the father smiles, and seems to be actually enjoying himself, as if he's just rediscovered life. It was very sweet. The other film I liked was "Laszio" by Nicolas Lemée (France, 2010, 4 minutes). It was an animation, which looked much like paper cut-outs (mostly because they were, and then manipulated). It was the story about not really belonging anywhere, always being considered an illegal immigrant just because of the way you look or where you are, thinking you've finally found home and then being pulled away by police or unknown forces, etc. It was very beautifully animated, and I got a chance to speak a little with that animator afterwords.
In fact, it was a little bizarre. I was hoping to just talk with him briefly, but the announcer (Michelle) ended up inviting me and a few others to dinner at the restaurant just inside the building. It was sort of awkward at first, I think, because I didn't expect to be swept up in the evening out, but I had a lot of fun! I talked mostly with a young French woman who worked there, and was a filmmaker—I forgot her name at the moment, but when I think of it, I'll share her first name— and she actually sat next to me for the previous presentation (and I borrowed her pen). It was a funny coincidence that we ended up at dinner together. Anyways, I also talked with Ela, from Poland, who I believe works there as well, and a young French man of Spanish origin, who's name starts with an M (but I forgot the rest)—he works at the Film Festival and also is a filmmaker. I spent most of the time talking with him, and it was actually great fun. We talked about various things, weather, travel, studies, art/film, etc. He's apparently going to Canada (near Vancouver) in January. I warned him about the cold weather. I think I made him nervous about how cold it gets in the north!
And then before you know it, it's almost 1am and the trams are no longer running! Well, by the time M and I got there, my tramway had stopped running, so we both took the blue ligne to the same stop. I was considering walking the rest of the way, but M gave me a lift, which made the whole process a bit easier. Instead of a 40 minute walk, I had about a 10 minute walk. Yay for kindness!
Long story short, I had a lot of fun going to the Film Festival today, and I hope to go back later in the week, and I had a great time with the impromptu dinner with 5 folks, and making 3 new friends! Like I said, too, before, I feel less sick today. Today has been a good day!