first week of life (and first award)

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dear boleroists, today is the director the one who writes to you.

on films and the processes of making them we often put so much effort, love and energy, that many times we end up calling them «our baby» (yes, it’s corny … but we can’t help it).  and bolero for surfing in moravia, who had a long nesting period -almost 2 years- was finally and officially born a week ago.

so I wanted to share with you some moments of its first week of life.

friday november 8th 2013

17.10 hrs.

I arrived to the municipal library of prague almost 2 hours before the projection. I wanted to have enough calm and time for the last technical test, stick some «posters» in the walls and make sure everything was all right and set.

observing the empty hall

while I was waiting for the technician from the cinema hall, I was surprised when in the middle of the hallway a moravian folk music group started to rehearse. they couldn’t enter to the hall next to ours, so they decided to rehearse outside.

it was a beautiful coincidence that on the day bolero for surfing in moravia would premiere, there would be a moravian concert in the hall next to ours. I even thought about inviting them to play in our event, but I was too shy to interrupt their rehearsal. plus, my czech is still quite primitive.

18.40 hrs.

with all the tests done, people started to arrive: friends, crew, cast, known and absolutely unknown persons, venezuelans, latinamericans, czechs and more czechs, more expats … we were able to count over a 100 persons, more than we expected since we had no media promotion or similar.

19:07 hrs.

I’ve got a microphone, and nervously I give a small speech welcoming everyone and thanking their presence at the hall. and then, as we had agreed earlier, I made a sign to the projection guy, who immediately turned off the lights so the film would start … but it didn’t.

long seconds of darkness on which my desperation was growing and growing until suddenly, those musicians from outside appeared on stage. «we want to play a small moravian piece for mr. director», those were their only words before playing a nice folk song and leaving the stage. and that was when the first projection for bolero for surfing in moravia started, when the baby was born. And I, still affected by the glad surprise of the musicians, missed the magical moment in which the black of the screen turns into the firs shot of the film.

34 minutes and 57 seconds until lights were on again. and after that, a warm series of comments, thanks and considerations that were honestly kind and plausible towards our bolero. without doubts, a reason to be happy and celebrate the sustained effort of a great team – to which you belong -, for over a year.

and we did celebrate, because we left the hall towards a nearby bar, and spent many hours there between drinks and euphoria …

saturday november 9th, 2013

02.00 hrs

we are still in the bar, celebrating …

saturday november 16th 2013

21.10 hrs.

is the closing ceremony of FAMU FEST. FAMU FEST is a film festival organized by our school in prague, and only movies made by FAMU students can be part of it.

though is small and local, it’s been running for 30 years, and it is now a mandatory event for the cinephiles of the city and its surroundings, bringing also guests as big as Wes Anderson or Jan Harlan.

and the great surprise of the night, at least for us, was receiving the award for best direction!!! : ) … and we say surprise not because we doubt about the quality of our film, but because there were 102 films in competition. and also, because is very unusual that an international student would win an award over a czech student… but it happened and we are really happy to share the news with you!!!

when receiving the award (photo by filip rojík)

when receiving the award (photo by filip rojík)

even more, the prize included not only 16mm film stock, but also an agreement with Czech Television for the broadcasting of bolero for surfing in moravia … : )

we really hope that this first week, will determine the long life we wish to out «baby».

sincerely,

the director.

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