THE FESTIVALISTS

7.30am.
Marianne's phone is ringing and I am beyond unimpressed.

This is followed by the even less impressive news that the flight bringing our guests Paul Sullivan (producer of Cactus) and Emma Rozanski (director of The Whisper Stop) for our lunch time screening is delayed by 3 hours! AND Emma was not informed of this latest revelation and has a long time of sitting in the airport ahead of her. Lucky for us she loves staring at planes....or so I hear.

The morning session went well but then it was full steam ahead....Patrons started arriving for the film whilst Marianne was driving like a mad woman across town to meet Paul and Emma as their plane touched down at 12.20pm....and get them to the cinema by 12.30pm!

No small feat, but Marianne was up for the challenge and passed with flying colours (and not just red lights as they flew past, thank you very much).

The Q&A went well, but Marianne and I were sure to casually leave a few of the local newspapers lying around afterwards, just to let Paul and Emma know they were not the only celebrities in town!

After a quick beer and much waxing lyrical about the Australian film industry we were treated to a guided tour around Wagga Wagga by Paul! Originally from Wagga Wagga he gave us all the insider info.... You ARE allowed to call Wagga Wagga Wagga but you have to BE FROM Wagga (Wagga).

Then he showed us the beach. Yep. There is a beach in Wagga Wagga.
Which is basically where they open the dams every day at 5pm so people can go and catch the wave. For real. If you don't believe me, check with a local.

After dropping Paul & Emma at the airport and picking up the equpiment from the cinema Marianne & I decided that we needed to treat ourselves. So we went to the movies, what else! (Followed by what is surely the greatest invention of all time Connoisseur's Chocolate Honey Nougat ice cream....Soooo good).

Now I have safely slipped into my I Heart DUBBO t-shirt, I will safely slip myself into bed and get some much needed beauty sleep for the drive to Dubbo in the morning.

Sweet dreams.
Karina.

Better not call Wagga Wagga, Wagga. Or the Wagga Waggans will run you down and have their way with you!
Arriving yesterday evening after a 6-hour drive, we made it to the cinema before nightfall, to drop off all the equipment.
Set-up took literally 10 minutes, including 5 to carry "The Beast" (the 50 kg Betaplayer) up the stairs to the projection room. Champion projectionist Cassie, had all the cables we needed and as if by magic everything worked on the first try.
Completely impressed, Karina and I went back to the hotel to check-in and rest a little. (many small dramas then occurred, the Wireless internet wasn't working, neither the power plugs in the room, and there was no kettle in sight).
We slept soundly and in the morning all was fixed (plugs, internet, kettle), which was rewarded by a gigantic breakie of pancakes which we cooked on our porch.
At 12pm, Karina and I were throwing popcorn at each other for a photograph for the Daily Advertiser, a local Wagga Wagga newspaper, for an article coming out tomorrow.
We then welcomed everyone to the screening, which was very well attended. We were thrilled by the enthusiasm of everyone who came, and looking forward to the next 2 screenings tomorrow.
Marianne

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.

The festival started in Sydney on Thursday 6th November at 6am. We drove to Sydney Domestic Airport with 60 kg of luggage (including a video projector and a betaplayer) - on a strict 20 kg /pp allowance, tapes that could not be X-Rayed, and oversized banners that had to go through special, fragile / oversize check-in.  It was a miracle we got on the plane in time to get cosy in a 25 seater airplane to Lismore.
Arriving in Lismore we met with Craig, the most hard working and cheeky projectionist we have ever met. We spend our first 4 hours plugging in and hooking up the betaplayer to the cinema system, only to realise that the one we had brought in with us was not capable of playing back the audio-description track.
We went back to the hotel and spent the entire afternoon on the phone trying to locate a betaplayer in the Lismore surroundings. Not a very easy task.  However to our most satisfaction, we did locate a player in Brisbane, and organised it’s shipping to us.
The next morning we got to the cinema early to prepare the information desk, put our banners up around the place, and … just be ready! Adrian from Birch  Carroll and Coyle was awesome helping us get what we needed, chatting with patrons and asking millions of questions about the festival.
Finally the first patrons started arriving, and we filled the cinema with 80 people. It was a very good screening. As The Castle played we were able to realise fully that the AAA film festival had started and the tour was on. It was a wonderful feeling.
Louise Alston, Director of feature film All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane, drove from Brisbane to meet us, and introduced and answered many questions from the audience in the Saturday afternoon screening.
Our Auslan interpreter Dave came with Deaf friends who all expressed a genuine satisfaction in the event, and gave us great feedback and valuable positive comments. We talked about their frustration that films in cinemas are not captioned and how rare it can be for them to go out to the movies. We hope AAAFF will help this cause.
We left Lismore on Sunday morning, satisfied but sad that the first stop of the tour was already over. We were mentally preparing for the drive to Merimbula!
Marianne