Back from France, back to France

Thinking of cycles...

recently, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the 62eme Festival de Cannes. oh in english that's the Cannes Film Festival, the 62nd installment. Long story short, it was amazing. At least that's what I tell people whenever i'm asked. "So, how was France? Tell me about it. I want to hear everything." Realizing that statement is absolutely not feasible, I break 'em off with the one liner. "Oh man, uhh, it was amazing." Because that is literally what it was. Well maybe, incredible may be more appropriate. Yeah, France was incredible.

I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I got a lot of it. France was gorgeous. The people were gorgeous. The beach was gorgeous. The culture, gorgeous. Feeling the presence and passion of such talented filmmakers from around the globe, gorgeous. The people in the program who I learned to hate, gorgeous. The ones I grew to love, my new found appreciation for the French language, and appreciation for the dollar, cuz the euro was KICKING MY ASS. gorgeous. or incredible, i mean.

Hummmmm.....
Top 5 things i loved about Cannes:
5) the weather: hot, everyday. sunny. perfect weather to chill on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
4) the beach: old, naked bitches cold chillin in the sand. to be that old and that bossy is awesome. aging is considered beautiful over there. wish that was true in the states.
3) the kids: the kids in france are effin' bossy. flyest kids i've ever seen. american kids be crying and alla that bull. not in france. those so called "kids" are mature as hell. i saw one shoot another, take a toke of cigarette and then put it out on the other guy's face! wait, that was here in detroit...WE GANGSTA, NIGGA!
2) the old school black music constantly in rotation: as soon as i arrived in france the first song i head was "getaway" by Earth, Wind and Fire. it was a sign, 'to soon to be followed by' a healthy dose of stevie Wonder, rose royce, more EWF, and uhh, i don't remember. it was a lot. and all the locals know ALL the words. IN ENGLISH. nuts. and finally,
1) the dogs: hands down, the coolest thing about france were the dogs. these things were like people. their owners take them EVERYWHERE. (no really) Restaurants, work, church. ok, i don't know about church but i would not be surprised if those dogs were capable of catching the spirit. they were very human-esque. they never barked, or made their presence too known. at the hotel where i stayed, i actually shared an elevator with some roaming k-9s a few times. they were just chillin in there. now, i want a french dog SO BADLY, but i know as soon as i bring it to the states, it's going to turn into an american dog and be off the effin chains! damn. lose, lose.

but it does feel amazing to be back in the states. where everybody speaks english. and we all ignore other cultures of the world while they worship ours. :O(
it happens...

but overall, the trip was way too dope to even begin to include in everything. so i'm headed back next year to take in more of the sights and sounds of Cannes; to see some more films, (which were so amazing btw), maybe meet some celebrities (not that i'm so star struck but i know people like to hear about that), and definitely go back with some better films. One of my films WILL screen In Competition at the festival. no doubt. Later this year, I will also be headed to the TIFF. (for all you suckas that don't know what that is, it's the Toronto International Film Festival.) sike, i didn't know either until recently. but that's what's it's all about, ya know, learning. losing those certain ignorant elements about ourselves that keep us in the dark. that build up our inhibitions and keep us from doing the things that we would love to do. I never would have thought the festival (and the globe for that matter) would have been so accessible but truly, it is. I have learned more than anything that if you want to go somewhere or do something, all you have to do, is do it. Just go. Tell people you're going. Make plans to go, and GO. Your life will be so much more enriched if you just DO whatever it is that makes you WANT to DO. and I,
I wanna make films.

Toronto in September.
Sundance in January.
Cannes next May.

signing off,

-Wu