Knowing that this was our last productive day in Udine, since the next day was only taken up by travelling, we wanted to do as much as possible, despite having been sleep and food deprived for four days straight and hardly having any strength to stay awake. But with the society's best interest in mind, we pulled through.
The day started for some of us with the Taiwan film Hear Me (2009), which was a romantic story about two deaf sisters and their struggles with life. For the others, the day started with the hilarious Chapman To, who was being interviewed in the press area by journalists and our own Spencer Murphy.
The dedicated members of the journalistic team started writing their reviews/interviews, while I went to see Identitas (2009) from Indonesia - a dark story depicting the life of millions of poor Indonesians that have no identity, no voice, no rights. By that time I was absolutely wrecked and was even caught on camera saying I was at the edge of my physical powers, I was off to write again. Nadia was still writing about the Hong Kong cinema panel, which featured Gallants' directors Clement Cheng and Derek Kwok, as well as La Comedie Humaine's producer and star Chapman To, whilst Ellie was transcripting Spencer's interview with Mr.To; Henry was writing his Secret Reunion review and I, on the other hand, wrote about Identitas and an overview of the films we had seen that day and the previous evening.
The whole team headed off to see Teddy Chen's Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) from Hong Kong, but I couldn't bear sitting through anymore films, let alone a film of 2 and a half hours, which I had previously seen. So I decided to take some rest and get my brain working again. The Japanese Boys on the Run (2010) was the last film to be seen by a member of CUEAFS, Nadia, while the rest of us were enjoying some quiet time outside, drinking beer and discussing the whole experience. The evening ended quite early, compared to the previous nights, as most of us were absolutely dead, but some of the other members kept the vibe going till the morning.
For Chapman To's interview and reviews of the seen films, go to CUEAFS's website and the website of our partners Cine-Vue.Labels: bodyguards, chapman to, cine-vue, cueafs, east asian film, far east film, feff, festival, identity, interview, italy, screening, teddy chen, udine |