 In the end of March 2010, Coventry University East Asian Film Society took a trip down to London for the premiere of Momoko Ando's Kakera - A Piece of Our Lives. In addition to the presence of the lovely Adam Torel, Jasper Sharp and Momoko Ando herself, we also received the opportunity to have an interview with the director and to take part in the official Q&A session after the film, which was to go to the official DVD material.
The film premiere was not to be a very big deal, as it was mainly a 'rehearsal' of a kind for our presence at the Udine Film Festival later in May, which is to say that Kakera's premiere was to give us a sense of how such an event would operate and to give us more confidence when it comes to preparation for the May festival.
 The news about our involvement in the DVD cuts didn't come until our ride in the minibus and it was a little nerve-wrecking to ask an actual director a film related question in the presence of all those other people and also being on camera for the DVD (especially for me, since I have a huge public speech phobia). But the society did good work and, according to Spencer, we 'owned' the whole Q&A session, which was a good beginning of our serious professional work, which would come to be even more stressful and nerve-wrecking by the end of the year.
Personally, I found it incredible. I have a strong interest in pursuing film journalism and this was the first time I was in the presence of an actual real film director and had the chance to have a conversation with her. The whole event was totally surreal and dream-like, but it gave me a sense of what the feeling would be to be a part of such big things and, later on I would find out, it only gets stronger.  Although a part of me wishes I had been a part of the interviewing of Momoko Ando, I was feeling a lot of pressure from not having been prepared for anything, so perhaps it was better we were just there to see the film and take part in the Q&A. I would later on be present at other important interviews at the Udine Film Festival, where, with enough preparation beforehand, I would have enough confidence to sit in the presence of an actual director and all types of other press and fellow journalists.
Overall, the Kakera premiere was a wonderful beginning of what would be a quite professional outcome for the society and it gave all of us a feeling of being a part of something bigger than a university society, which I think all of us actually needed. On a personal level, it was an invaluable experience, both when it comes to my involvement in CUEAFS and to my personal interest in film journalism.
*Images courtesy of Diana StefanescuLabels: events reflections |
