DDW 2010 FILM+DESIGN Festival.

So as many of you know, I spent Dutch Design Week playing volunteer, ahem Gal Friday for the Wunderkinds at the FILM+DESIGN Festival. I had an excellent week and it was due in no small part to the team, their kindness, creative energy, and bitchin' movie selections. They even let me flex my public speaking skills, [which, as you've guessed, rock!] and introduce the films. I got audience applause, not once but twice! I think the Dutchies are starting to take a shine to us exuberant, over-enthusiastic, slap-happy American types.

So here's the skinny on the event:

The FILM+DESIGN Festival is a film festival with a design, art, & architecture slant. It's comprised of collections of short films, talks, and of course, the feature lengths. I saw almost every last film in this festival and one of the talks and must say, I was impressed.

I never go to the movies. Why? Because I nearly always leave with a great sense of disappointment and a feeling of regret for the 10 bux and 2 hours of my life that I will never get back. Seriously, I averaged about a movie a year in NYC and I've only seen one here. And we all know how that cinema fiasco went down. And then in one short week, I watched nearly an entire friggin' festival and loved every minute of it.

How did this happen? You might ask yourself. And here's the answer. The folks over there at the FILM+DESIGN Festival can curate their asses off. They used a discerning eye and impeccable taste to garner a tasteful, thought-provoking, and [thankfully], enjoyable collection of cinematographic delights. This was no slap-dash throw a bunch of drivel together and put a poster on it kind of affair. Yeah Tribeca, I'm talking to you. I volunteered with this bunch because I found out they were screening The Visual Language of Herbert Matter, [which was sinfully good by the way] but I had no idea who or what to expect when I arrived. I found my expectations wildly exceeded.

And I'm not the only one. My BF, a non-designer scientist type, loved the films he saw too. And really, when films about design and art etc. can reach outside of their creative bubbles and pique the interests of the uninitiated, I say hats off to you, because that ain't easy. I'm not at liberty to discuss their upcoming plans, obvs; but there are talks of new cities, new countries, new continents even! I am so thrilled to have been a part and hope to continue to be so in some [even small] way.

So if you haven't checked out the site, please do! If you have, or know of a film that would be perfect for this top-notch event, send me a link in the comments or email me at chateausavoie [at] gmail [dot] com. I have been sanctioned by the powers that be, to look into and pass on any films I deem noteworthy. Also, be sure to check out the Cicada Studio website. These are the creative forces behind FILM+DESIGN and their gorgeous site and blog are assuredly worth a gander.

And finally, I would like to issue a sincere thanks to mes amis over at the Fest. Marijke, Ward, Eva, Rico, and Ger. You were all so kind and made my week so very excellent. Even worth sleeping in a hostel for! Ha.

Met vriendelijke groet,
anna

ps. Most of the pics I took are on the studio's camera, so they've got the files. Here's a couple I got on my phone. Crappy for sure. Don't judge. It was hella dark in there.

Marijke and Wouter.

The restaurant downstairs at the theatre.

Ward, in iphone polaroid-vision.