I thought I’d write next when we were all set to go to Cannes. The way things look right now… I may not even be able to make it. Whilst I wait to know I thought I’d write and share the ups and downs
The good part is that the 26 minute rough cut that Aruna and I plan to travel with is looking good. Our first trial screening in a Mumbai based NGO working with youth in the city sparked off a very lively discussion. The second screening at home with family and friends had people sitting back and enjoying the film. Laughter filled the room because of the wit and humour of our central character Behram Harda (as a filmmaker this means alot because the film is striking the right note). I also shared the rough cut with a few festival curators before I fine tune a 30 minute version for the festival circuit in June and their response has been more than encouraging
We have a few good meetings set up at Cannes where we plan to pre sell the concept to channels. Also our rough cut will be in the digital library at Cannes so potential buyers can access it the whole year through. Solely through our crowd funding initiative we have raised enough money to cover our trip!! Thank you to our 6 donors for making this happen, truly I will confess I was sceptical , hesitant and awkward about it. The only big question is whether after all this I will be able to go?
We have been having visa issues from the word go. One month ahead of time, the only available date at the French Consulate was April 1st assuming we got our passports the next day, we would still miss the event which begins on the 2nd and 3rd of April. Finally with a lot of help and guidance we managed to reschedule our French interview at the visa office for the beginning of next week…the only hitch is that I do not have my passport back from the British Consulate where I applied for a UK visa nearly 2 weeks back! It says on their website that for a non settlement visa and if the person has been to the UK within the last 5 years the processing time is about a week…but although I fall into this category for some reason my visa is held up.
Am keeping my fingers crossed till the last minute but if not Aruna will have to travel to Cannes and clinch a few deals – solo!
A special thanks to: Moneesha, Hari and Susan – for the marathon edits
Bodhi- for delivering the gfx just before he got into a near-fatal bike accident and was laid up for a long time
Gissy – for squeezing in the sound mix between her hectic travel
Mathew and Leena – for subtitles Hindi and Marathi after their regular work
Arghya – for playing script doctor
Ruchi, Akash and Maneesh – for giving us an online presence and creating a community base
My two Annies (mother and mother in law ) – for rescheduling their work appointments to baby sit my 5 year old boy, so I could put in all the crazy hours
Paul (my husband) – for playing legal eagle and favourite punching bag
Hormis Tharakan, Shanta and Asha for pitching in with all the visa glitches and advise.
Aruna…I can’t thank you, this is our film
Finally this is not the time for speeches…just to acknowledge what it takes to get this far for an independent filmmaker . And miles to go …