up in the mountains again

Woodstock was warm and welcoming, from the gigantic fireplace in the main lounge hall to the cozy home of a local resident who kindly let us take it over for the weekend. I loved being home for the brilliant leaves and for my birthday, and to see my folks, who shlepped three hours to experience what this film festival business is all about. We were honored that Thing With No Name was nominated for the Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography, and very happy to be reunited with LAFF friends, notably the geniuses behind Trinidad and Prince of Broadway. Jeremiah Zagar's In A Dream and Ellen Kuras' The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) were two new films I got to see here, and were some of the most gorgeous and sensitively made documentaries that I've seen yet; it is only fitting that they have been shortlisted for Academy Awards.

It was back to the mountains last weekend for The Starz Denver Film Festival, where our two screenings and panel were sold out! This happened with many thanks to the amazing publicist Rachael Tucker, Ashara Ekundayo of The Pan African Arts Society, and Barbara Bridges of The Denver Film Society and Wildblue Entertainment. During the panel that Barbara arranged on Women in Transition in Africa, it was uplifting to hear the experiences of the women that both Abby Disney (Pray the Devil Back to Hell) and Lisa Merton (Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai) had followed; you can listen to the podcast (including my mic malfunction) here. Our schedule was filled, but a few minutes here and there with good friends, family, family friends, and even friends of friends (thank you for spreading the word, everyone!) was golden; these festivals are so good for reconnecting with the world that too often tends to drop away during the film production process. There's so many people to thank...Britta, Adam, Carla...cue the music and cut me off now...