BendFilm So Far

I am at the BendFilm Festival (http://www.bendfilm.org/)

It took me 8 lonely long hours to drive here over the mountain pass of Mount Hood in the snow. Scary! I have determined to go home by way of The Dalles, as they say that is easier. First snowstorm of the year here in Bend. Not my favorite thing. I do not drive well in snow.

I am staying in a hotel, the Phoenix Inn, that told me their carpets are not new. Alas, they are; the room stinks to high heaven. So I have the window open to its maximum of four inches, and the icy air is pouring over me. Been in the room twenty minutes and the chemical soup is already giving me a headache. I may need to drive home tomorrow if I can't handle the room, which would be a shame, as I really like the atmosphere here. Lots of people say it feels like Park City, and it is not just the snow, it is the energy. A very lively, loud, packed crowd for the opening screening and party that I arrived late to this evening. I went straight from the car, in my jeans, and was underdressed. But as this is Bend, OR, not everyone was all fancy, so it was okay. Phew.

At first, at the party, I stood in a corner clutching a coffee I was not drinking (am allergic) for something to hold, and smiled vaguely and politely at the passing people, feeling very lonely and wondering why the heck I had come.

After about fifteen minutes of this, a very nice blond lady named Sandy, who turned out to be the head of the entire festival, came over and asked why I was standing by myself. I said it was because I didn't know anybody, and she introduced herself, said that she really loved my movie (love her!), and introduced me to two nice gents in dapper leather jackets who are here to see the festival. Later she brought a lovely lady over who is the founder of the BendFilm Faerie Godmother award for women filmmakers, who of course I was very very glad to meet. Bless her. And I met one other filmmaker. The rest of it was me being as nice as I could and trying to hand out as many postcards as possible for tomorrow's - you guessed it - 10:30 a.m. screening. Sigh. I will probably have four people there again, just like I had at my early-morning screenings in Texas and Oklahoma. Ever hopeful!

I am going to try to go to sleep now with all this chemical smell. I brought my charcoal filter mask but, wierdly, the filter in it still smells like Plane Chemicals, as I forgot to wash the cotton mask and change the filter after Oklahoma, and I seem to have not brought a clean filter . . . DOH! *fingers crossed*

If I can get through this weekend physically unscathed, it will be a miracle, with all these chemical. It will help to spend all day watching movies!

And next weekend in L.A., at the fabulous La Femme Film Festival, I will not have the option of driving home if it gets physically rough to handle, but there I can surely leave the window wide open, as the weather will certainly not be 30 degrees in October :)

http://www.lafemme.org/

At the end of the month I am going to Virginia for the Regent-College sponsored "Redemptive Film Festival", in which all the films screening have already won awards. Very unusual and very nice of them :) I screen at that one on Oct. 31 at 1pm.

http://www.redemptivefilms.com/

So it is going to be a big month for screenings! Fingers crossed for a win here or at La Femme, but I know from my early screening times that that is not very likely.

May it go as it should . . .