THE FESTIVALISTS

After a few pickups Thursday morning we hit the road from Sydney to Merimbula. With the obligatory stop at Berry for their world famous donuts, 7 hours later we arrived with high hopes, great Aussie films and (the right) betaplayer AKA “the beast” at The Picture Show Man Cinema. After dropping off the equipment, exhausted, we check into our hotel for a good nights sleep.
We met with Denis, the cinema manager, at 8am the next morning to set things up and do a test run, planning to have plenty of time to then have a leisurely breakfast, check out a few sights and chat with patrons...By 9.50am, after Denis had dashed home to grab his bedside alarm clock for cables to try and hook up the sound (bless him!) we were ready to roll!
Following the quiet session, Marianne and I went to a few local places to spread the word about the festival before heading back to the hotel for, what is now our ritual, a home cooked meal made on the patio with bare essential cooking utensils and a tiny hot plate cooker. Delicious!
Saturday morning arrives and we are full of beans (and muesli).  Word has gotten out about the festival and the turn out is better for our morning session which, aside from a few technical glitches, is great.
For the 2pm screening of Cactus Travis McMahon and his partner arrive to do an introduction and question and answer session and the cinema is buzzing with people excited to see the lead actor in the flesh!
The questions thrown at him were probing indeed but he held it together under the pressure… What is it like having to work in the blistering heat of the Australian outback? Has he ever kidnapped a person? Is he Holden or a Ford man? (For all of you out there dying to know, he’s a Holden man. It was a challenging role for him indeed).
After the screening, a choctop and loads of popcorn, Marianne and I are on top of the world and happy to have brought the festival to this town. Denis and his team at Picture Show Man have been an absolute pleasure to work with and are excited at the prospect of the festival returning next year. And so are we.
Now we are off to fire up the cooker and have a good nights rest for the long drive to Wagga Wagga tomorrow!
Karina.

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