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Day 3: There's No Raining on My Cannes Parade

Today's adventure started with some pretty intense thunderstorms, which I have to say, literally dampened my mood for a long stretch of the day, even after the sun had come out. But I wasn't going to let a silly little grey cloud get in my way, so I myself "stormed" out of my little villa and proceeded to walk down to the Palais to catch Brandon Cronenberg's first screening of.
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Today's adventure started with some pretty intense thunderstorms, which I have to say, literally dampened my mood for a long stretch of the day, even after the sun had come out.

But I wasn't going to let a silly little gray cloud get in my way, so I myself "stormed" out of my little villa and proceeded to walk down to the Palais to catch Brandon Cronenberg's first screening of Antiviral. Despite me being there more than an hour and half ahead of time (the only way to get into a film in Cannes is to get one of very few advance tickets -- it's not open to the public -- or line up with your delegate badge), I still didn't get in. Cue rain.

Wet, dejected and with jet lag kicking in, I decided to hit up the Short Film Market Corner, a place where every short film that is screening, as well as those just looking for an international buyer, get housed in a library that my delegate pass gives me access to. And I don't have to line up!!! I wanted to see what films my film, THE TAPE, was up against.

You're allowed 30 minutes to watch some films, so I was able to watch a good handful. I have to say that from what I saw, the Canadians are really making some strong films and there are some great new voices and visions to watch out for in the future. Such is the case for Brandon Cronenberg, anyway. The last short film of his I saw was called Broken Tulips, which was a short adaptation of the feature that he's here in Cannes for. With that in mind, I was even more determined to catch the gala screening of his film, that was later in that day.

I trekked home, donned my black suit and bow tie (you can be kicked out for not wearing this male uniform for the night screenings) and marched back to get in line, this time three hours ahead of schedule.

I met up with another short filmmaker, Jeremy Lutter, who has an amazing short film in the same screening as mine called Joanna Makes a Friend. The cue started to be let in and finally, we made our way into the theatre. Victory!!!

Jeremy suggested that next time we are back in Cannes we should instead bring a beige suit, as that's what security wears, so we can get into anything we want. If you try that, please let me know how that works out for you.

Tim Roth was part of the audience, as was Brandon's dad, David, who looked overwhelmed with pride.

The lights dimmed, I think I could hear Brandon hold his breath, and the film began. I won't use this forum to review the film, I'm not a journalist, but I have to say I left the film completely inspired.

Though THE TAPE will never be adapted into a feature film, watching Antiviral certainly further fanned the fire inside of me to get my two features made.

But right now, it's all about getting people to watch my short film. Speaking of, with really busy day of meeting tomorrow, it's time for me to hit the sack (and most likely dream of freckles, blood, diseases and syringes. thanks Brandon)

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