Tomorrow, April 27, some of CUEAFS's members will be leaving for Italy to cover the Udine Far East Film Festival in its 12th edition. Feelings and thoughts are rushing around, bags are packed, pre-production has been done, anxiety and excitement absorb any other emotion - this is basically the situation before departure.
The nine members going have been assigned important responsibilities and we will try to be as professional as possible and to present the society in the best way possible, while producing some good work and getting some experience for ourselves. If at the end of the week we are pleased with what we have done and Spencer is happy, we will be coming home triumphant. At this point plans are still quite unclear, as we don't know what to expect. Schedules are ready, but last minute changes are probable. I am feeling 98% excited and 2% scared or... to think about it, it might be the other way around...
We have been divided into two groups - a 'writers' team (Nadia, Ellie, Henry and myself), that will be taking care of writing reviews and articles, as well as possible interviews and press panel reflections for CUEAFS's website and, more importantly, for the website of our partner Cine-Vue, along with our own personal reflective writing that will be a window to our feelings, expectations, disappointments, etc. The 'documentary' team (Michelle, Mike and Stan) will be filming our journey in order to produce a promotional video for the society, portraying our experience during the festival. Kevin has been assigned the position of 'coordinator of the writers team', which means that he will be making sure everyone is kept up-to-date, if they cannot attend meetings, and in addition he will be translating all of our produced material into Chinese. Andreea will have her hands full, as she will be our main photographer, admin of the CUEAFS's website and Spencer's personal assistant.
As the roles and responsibilities are clear and both teams have been meeting regularly to discuss any small details that might become an issue, everyone is more or less ready to head off to Italy and see what the festival is really about. Here is this year's festival trailer, coming from Joko Anwar (Indonesia):
When it comes to schedules, I personally will try to see as many films as possible, especially given that it is unsure whether we will be able to enter press meetings or conduct any interviews, which means we will have time only to attend films and write about them. I am not worried about the writing, as I love to write about film, and I have done extensive research into the countries I have been assigned to cover. Plus, I am convinced that once we get into the atmosphere and get the feeling of the festival itself, writing in the correct manner will not be that big of a problem (although I am saying this, I am still quite nervous about the feedback we might get from Spencer about our produced material).
Here is my planned schedule for the next few days (I have been assigned to cover South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia):
Tuesday, 27 April
6.00pm - South Korean cinema panel (E.J-yong, director of The Actresses and Kim Dong-ho from Pusan International Film Festival)
Wednesday, 28 April
8.55am - Seven 2 One (Hong Kong)
8.00pm - Possessed (South Korea)
Thursday, 29 April
11.ooam - The Legend is Alive (Vietnam)
2.15pm - Running Turtle (South Korea)
8.00pm - The Arrival (The Philippines)
10.50pm - Secret Reunion (South Korea)
Friday, 30 April
11.30am - Hear Me (Taiwan)
2.15pm - Identity (Indonesia)
 6.10pm - South-East cinema panel (Erik Matti, director of The Arrival; Riri Riza, director of The Dreamer; Nithiwat Tharatorn, director of Dear Galileo)
At this point I am sure that the schedule is not final, as I am not sure what we can expect to be happening, so slight changes are possible, but I am hoping to see at least some of the films on my list. I am looking forward to attending guest speaker panels, press meetings and interviews (if we are able to get those) and gathering as much information and material as possible for both the official presentation and published material and for my personal experience and collection.
With only a few hours to go, I am literally on the verge of a mental breakdown, while at the same time I have never been that excited in my entire life. I am looking forward to working closely with the members of CUEAFS and producing some good material, making Spencer proud and representing the society on a greater platform than the university forum. Hopefully, if we do a good job, we will have more privileges next year or at least we will have been heard of. And last but not least, the promotional video of our stay in Udine will be our main tool to popularise the society and attract new members, and I can't wait to see what will be there to film and what we will have at the end.
*Images from:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKULLUZQ6_Mh4oMhkLrW9Nh9kW-UyL3gueLO1e2xot41Es9aoMMNiw7rOqx8f0memkb7EHhZc_nd5fO-CyKrX20O56ksRYwmiybmHY4iLPNuZWE2d12Uk_REVu2CuRwWl3_FF4522_yTaV/s320/seven2one.jpg
http://lolyfe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Possessed-209x300.jpg
http://www.wavereleasing.com/images/poster_legend.jpg
http://www.flixunlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/Running_Turtle.jpg
http://twitchfilm.net/news/TheArrivalPoster.jpg
http://www.watchtopmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/TheSecretReunion.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXbGYaYgqgbs1hT_jPFgvO_RN7lBrWLVpsD_gtX5WIJvCyU8pT-l2uwYT9ATR0loT3C8EDwKHJasAx-_wH2jZSmu8qYy2fY4CMNdS7bFV3R82TkQUDWatHawt_1oahNnM_b1v6VpaNLL4/s400/hear_me_02.png
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QBXSKg1fEAg/S05HPfmf3GI/AAAAAAAABcQ/YPDcd5gReho/s320/identitas.jpgLabels: cine-vue, cueafs, documentary team, east asian film, far east film, feff, festival, interview, joko anwar, panel, screening, udine, writers team |
