big IFFR tiger

Originally uploaded by milov.

The IFFR, short for International Film Festival Rotterdam, started. Seeing that photo makes me all nostalgic. I started attending the film fest, partly inspired by my cousin Yin who seduced me into the art of the moving images. From age 16 to age 26, I pretty much went to the IFFR every year, save for one year when I was in Taiwan and attended the Golden Horse Film Fest there.

Some memories include all the inbetween moments – those were actually really fruitful, I often ended up reading books ; out of my normal context, it is interesting to see how you read things differently, perhaps with a more open mind. I often ended up writing letters to friends, most of them probably never sent out (bad habit). Quick dinners before, and in a rare occasion even during, the movie – trivial things like food were structured around the movies.
Long trips in the train back to Amsterdam.

Some more specific memories include my first time talking to Maggie Cheung. I remember not being able to sleep that night out of excitement. Like life, you remember those really great movies, and those really bad movies; the mediocre ones tend to wash out over time. In 1997 (I think) I also met Christopher Doyle, he was in Rotterdam to promote Fallen Angels, but Berlin managed to snatch the rights away at the last minute; nevertheless, Chris was there and I remember he invited me to this VIP party where he had a photo exhibition – I was the only one in backpack, and jeans.

So many memories. Thanks, IFFR.

I realized the second time I attended the Berlin Film Festival, that if home is a place where you feel comfortable, I have a home anywhere in the world where they have film festivals.