Aruba 2015 Festival Diary: An Opening Night Filled With Metaphysics And R&B
Through the air conditioning rattling away on the wall I can hear something stir. It's beyond the tump-thump of the party that tumbles on downstairs by the pool. It rises above the twinkling lights of the resorts lining the beaches like lighthouses calling in all the good consumers from afar. It's the magic of a island like this. Something that goes beyond the vacation excess, beyond the outlet mall shopping and sunbathing. It's a pep, it's a knowing wink that falls somewhere out there among the stars shining above the Caribbean. This is the spirit of the Aruban people, a hearty, friendly, diverse folk that ease into the day with an honest smile that may be weary, it may be bursting, it probably falls somewhere in between all of it, or else encompasses all of it. There is a great lesson showing here, plain as day, though hidden to someone like myself who lives so much in his head. An Island destination this may be, I need to consider this adventure not as the path to a destination, but as experience after experience.
Arriving last afternoon to Aruba was an adventure unto itself. So much so that I wasn't sure I was ready to handle my first AIFF. Airplanes from west coast to east, stuffy cabins, coughing passengers: It was a horror film in the making. I hunkered down as best as my congested head would allow and entered a transitory state, for I knew what was coming. The buzz of a film festival is an intoxicating experience, one that makes me feel invincible (at least until you know your limit). And that's where I started off with 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours, no caffeine, little food, the Aruban sun welcoming me with a fervent blast of Vitamin DDD.
Now, I'm at my limit for the day and my head is swirling with new films and friends, and it's only been the first 12 hours. This is typical. This is the fuel, the fire, the food to propel me on through the highs and the lows -- but mostly the highs -- of a film festival, for what could be better than celebrating cinema with kindred spirits?
As press, I know I'll be in good shape once I get a word in with festival PR. As I set foot in the offices and had the pleasure of greeting Hilda Somarriba, Davinia Croes and Justin Cook I knew I had just found some new family. For no matter the size of a festival, no matter the location, this sense of community and camaraderie is what I hope for. Heck, I didn't even mention that AIFF's chief financial officer Frits Israel was the one to meet arriving guests at the airport. It was through moments like that, across the coast hugging highways with festival staff that just happened to be childhood friends with programming director Aaron Hose that it all clicked. Folks like this sometimes matter just as much as the movies we come to see. To share in that enthusiasm of an audience is a blessing, but to share that kind of blessing with the people who usher in the audience is often a wonder.
Which was the case this evening with the opening night festivities. While many eyes were on Fast And Furious star Tyrese Gibson and his short film Shame, I was humming along, ready to check out Zachary Sluser's midwest set tale of metaphysical romance and wonder, The Driftless Area.
But first, it was my duty to step up to bat and conduct the post Q&A screening with Tyrese. A man with a glint in his eye like the Buddha, the soul singer turned movie star was visibly touched to be sharing with the Aruban audience a very personal piece about addiction and abuse in family life. Shame is a sincere piece of work, from an actor who is ready to tell folks he's just about done with being typecast as the charismatic cohort in action flicks. With the audience beaming, we both put our hands on our hearts, then shook hands, and like that he was off into the night.
But we were far from done with the international premiere of The Driftless Area. Adapted from a novel by Tom Druery, Zachary Sluser's feature debut charts the place and time between place and time, between life and death, between notions of such hard lines, instead very matter of factually treating it as one intersecting moment forever unfolding. Shot by the Norwegian cinematographer Daniel Voldheim (of whom ScreenAnarchy readers may recall from Cold Prey and Ragnarok) in a beguiling naturalistic style, Sluser's film follows a rippling pool of ponderous and lost characters who are in one way, directly, or indirectly, connected to an arson fire. Starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes and Frank Langella, keep an eye out for more on The Driftless Area in my full review.
As they say on the happy island... Bon Bini to ScreenAnarchy's coverage of the 2015 Aruba International Film Festival.
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