6 years ago
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Oscar and Lady in Pink
Oscar et la dame rose (bande-annonce)
Загружено jonliyah. - Свежие видео программы онлайн
I have no comments. Read the book. Watch the film.
By Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
My very first interview(-s)
When: October 2nd. Was planned for the 1st, but there was a flight delay.
What: Interview with Valerie Mairesse.
And she is: French actress, presenting the film “Enfin veuve”. Literally: “Widow, finally”. International movie title: “Merry widow”. Though for Russian release the movie got the name “To love in a French way”. No more original irony, but perhaps not so bad for promotion among Russian public (there is a well known film “To love in a Russian way”, thought to my opinion it is very “cliché”, very).
Anyway, Valerie performed only a secondary role in that film, but having been invited (or recruited) by UniFrance, she visited Russia within a group of French movie directors and actors.
UniFrance: a French company promoting French cinema - and through that the France itself - all over the world. Works in cooperation with government and foreign missions as far as I understand.
This autumn event: the 10th Annual Festival “French Cinema today” in Russia. This year it started in Novosibirsk (as seen from its name the town is in Siberia), and then it moved to Moscow. Eight movies due to official Russian release this autumn, plus three more films made in co-production, plus one restored good old classics, plus 24 short films. Funny personal detail: once I posted online announcement for my friends about the festival and the opportunity to watch French films, I got a reply from my friend Varya from Novosibirsk, who wrote that she was going to work as a translator during the Night of French short films! (She works as a teacher of French in the University, but participating in film festival as additional activity sounds great!)
Night of French short films. As we called it: “Long Night of short French films”. Twenty four (24!) short films all night long. Pity I missed it.
A bit about V.Mairesse. She started her carrier in the Splendid team - which was a group of young and talented French authors and actors, in love with comedy and public. In her carrier Valerie was playing for Tarkovsky – who is a recognized “master”, and that was his movie "Offret". She also played in the film with Coluche - “Banzai” comedy, well known internationally. But finally she is a nice, open and smiley person, with a brisk energetic walk, ready to speak, to laugh and to answer questions. No “the star” symptoms. When I was transcribing the “dicto” record, it was full of laughs and lively conversation. It sounds as we are friends chatting about things.
On the other hand, and that is important for me, I found all that very professional. Even if it is not my profession, and actually it was my first experience on this field, even with all my typical doubts and embarrassment… I just know that this time, somehow, by some inner determination perhaps, I managed everything well enough. The trick was to believe that this is pretty damn serious and the person need to be interviewed and not to deal with my complexes. That was a natural process. And then I just imagined everything – how to start, how to greet, how to create a friendly atmosphere, how to remember about the timing. We had a real translator with us - a nice and well informed lady with a French accent in Russian. She also helped in creating a good conversation. It was an obvious bonus to understand French, and it also was saving time and generating new questions all the time, but in fact our conversation – on the record – is a mixture of languages and laughs. Sometimes, caught by conversation and curiosity, I was starting to express something in French and the translator was saying it in Russian for Valerie…
Where, by the way: in a really posh and expensive hotel in the city center. I mean, really posh. With special people on the entrance, orchids in water closet, lots of gold and velvet in decoration – that type of luxury.
The day before the interview, calling my editor in chief:
Me: Any dress code maybe?
Editor: Look, it`s journalists who will be there…
So I opted for the jeans. As almost everybody else. Finally that was a working meeting, several people meeting with other several people to have several conversations in a short period of time.
Other organizational stuff. Coffee in the lobby and CDs with information about films. CDs were perhaps done in the last second – at my job sometimes we have that kind of “products”, just information put in different folders, sometimes files in different formats. I mean, that it is not perfect, but okay as a source of information and just shows that it is done by people in a certain - perhaps stressful - situation.
As the first experience, existing in that particular situation was interesting. A bit of waiting in the “couloirs”, chatting with people you know and making new acquaintances – just to start speaking before the main conversation will be started. Somehow I found myself speaking with a lady, who appeared to be chief editor of the French magazine “Premiere” – the main cinema magazine for me. Finally, funny or not, we finished by me not only getting my first interview that day, but also giving my first one as well. Apperently she – Veronique Le Bris her name is – traveling with the festival team, also prepares the article about the festival.
So where is the proof of all that? My editor, not being the fan of “Enfin veuve” and “comedies romantiques” in general – doesn`t hurry to publish the interview now, postponing to the date of the movie official release which will be in November. Actually he is reasonable as the website is loaded with other interviews now, and let`s think about the general concept, and also already great for me to have the experience itself. On the other hand, without publishing the experience isn`t finished yet.
What I`ve learnt?
- Good to be professional or – in my case – use professional approach.
- Good to use imagination. I was imagining myself Michel Drucker “a la feminine”. He is well known French TV personality who host talk shows with people famous in different spheres.
- Good to create a friendly atmosphere. Even if you are not used to an “easy” version of yourself.
- Listen attentive. The course of conversation may be changed. Impossible to smile all the time, the conversation changes it direction from funny to serious and emotional.
- Be prepared. In case of short and one-word answers I had additional questions and remarks to undercover main questions.
- Believe that all this is interesting for you and you are dying to know the answer. In my case it was not far from the truth.
Valerie looked happy and interested to see Moscow and Russia. Going to Siberia is great by itself, that is more real Russia, when not in Moscow. Later the other translator said that Valerie was surprised by the quantity of expensive shops in Moscow (“a lot, where do ordinary people shop?”) and the traffic jams (“your streets look so wide and big, so why is the problem?”). I like to see things in other towns or other countries, but I also like when others also see something new for them. That`s what creates exchange and thoughts about others.
I`ll let you know how it is developed. Bye now.
What: Interview with Valerie Mairesse.
And she is: French actress, presenting the film “Enfin veuve”. Literally: “Widow, finally”. International movie title: “Merry widow”. Though for Russian release the movie got the name “To love in a French way”. No more original irony, but perhaps not so bad for promotion among Russian public (there is a well known film “To love in a Russian way”, thought to my opinion it is very “cliché”, very).
Anyway, Valerie performed only a secondary role in that film, but having been invited (or recruited) by UniFrance, she visited Russia within a group of French movie directors and actors.
UniFrance: a French company promoting French cinema - and through that the France itself - all over the world. Works in cooperation with government and foreign missions as far as I understand.
This autumn event: the 10th Annual Festival “French Cinema today” in Russia. This year it started in Novosibirsk (as seen from its name the town is in Siberia), and then it moved to Moscow. Eight movies due to official Russian release this autumn, plus three more films made in co-production, plus one restored good old classics, plus 24 short films. Funny personal detail: once I posted online announcement for my friends about the festival and the opportunity to watch French films, I got a reply from my friend Varya from Novosibirsk, who wrote that she was going to work as a translator during the Night of French short films! (She works as a teacher of French in the University, but participating in film festival as additional activity sounds great!)
Night of French short films. As we called it: “Long Night of short French films”. Twenty four (24!) short films all night long. Pity I missed it.
A bit about V.Mairesse. She started her carrier in the Splendid team - which was a group of young and talented French authors and actors, in love with comedy and public. In her carrier Valerie was playing for Tarkovsky – who is a recognized “master”, and that was his movie "Offret". She also played in the film with Coluche - “Banzai” comedy, well known internationally. But finally she is a nice, open and smiley person, with a brisk energetic walk, ready to speak, to laugh and to answer questions. No “the star” symptoms. When I was transcribing the “dicto” record, it was full of laughs and lively conversation. It sounds as we are friends chatting about things.
On the other hand, and that is important for me, I found all that very professional. Even if it is not my profession, and actually it was my first experience on this field, even with all my typical doubts and embarrassment… I just know that this time, somehow, by some inner determination perhaps, I managed everything well enough. The trick was to believe that this is pretty damn serious and the person need to be interviewed and not to deal with my complexes. That was a natural process. And then I just imagined everything – how to start, how to greet, how to create a friendly atmosphere, how to remember about the timing. We had a real translator with us - a nice and well informed lady with a French accent in Russian. She also helped in creating a good conversation. It was an obvious bonus to understand French, and it also was saving time and generating new questions all the time, but in fact our conversation – on the record – is a mixture of languages and laughs. Sometimes, caught by conversation and curiosity, I was starting to express something in French and the translator was saying it in Russian for Valerie…
Where, by the way: in a really posh and expensive hotel in the city center. I mean, really posh. With special people on the entrance, orchids in water closet, lots of gold and velvet in decoration – that type of luxury.
The day before the interview, calling my editor in chief:
Me: Any dress code maybe?
Editor: Look, it`s journalists who will be there…
So I opted for the jeans. As almost everybody else. Finally that was a working meeting, several people meeting with other several people to have several conversations in a short period of time.
Other organizational stuff. Coffee in the lobby and CDs with information about films. CDs were perhaps done in the last second – at my job sometimes we have that kind of “products”, just information put in different folders, sometimes files in different formats. I mean, that it is not perfect, but okay as a source of information and just shows that it is done by people in a certain - perhaps stressful - situation.
As the first experience, existing in that particular situation was interesting. A bit of waiting in the “couloirs”, chatting with people you know and making new acquaintances – just to start speaking before the main conversation will be started. Somehow I found myself speaking with a lady, who appeared to be chief editor of the French magazine “Premiere” – the main cinema magazine for me. Finally, funny or not, we finished by me not only getting my first interview that day, but also giving my first one as well. Apperently she – Veronique Le Bris her name is – traveling with the festival team, also prepares the article about the festival.
So where is the proof of all that? My editor, not being the fan of “Enfin veuve” and “comedies romantiques” in general – doesn`t hurry to publish the interview now, postponing to the date of the movie official release which will be in November. Actually he is reasonable as the website is loaded with other interviews now, and let`s think about the general concept, and also already great for me to have the experience itself. On the other hand, without publishing the experience isn`t finished yet.
What I`ve learnt?
- Good to be professional or – in my case – use professional approach.
- Good to use imagination. I was imagining myself Michel Drucker “a la feminine”. He is well known French TV personality who host talk shows with people famous in different spheres.
- Good to create a friendly atmosphere. Even if you are not used to an “easy” version of yourself.
- Listen attentive. The course of conversation may be changed. Impossible to smile all the time, the conversation changes it direction from funny to serious and emotional.
- Be prepared. In case of short and one-word answers I had additional questions and remarks to undercover main questions.
- Believe that all this is interesting for you and you are dying to know the answer. In my case it was not far from the truth.
Valerie looked happy and interested to see Moscow and Russia. Going to Siberia is great by itself, that is more real Russia, when not in Moscow. Later the other translator said that Valerie was surprised by the quantity of expensive shops in Moscow (“a lot, where do ordinary people shop?”) and the traffic jams (“your streets look so wide and big, so why is the problem?”). I like to see things in other towns or other countries, but I also like when others also see something new for them. That`s what creates exchange and thoughts about others.
I`ll let you know how it is developed. Bye now.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Welcome back
Looks "St-Pete teaser" was here for quite some time... No point of speaking about it now, it`s all gone. It was good as a journey and as a working experience.
Then I had Geneva for a weekend and Paris for a bit more. Which means Europe twice a month! That`s what happening when I - luckily - have the annual Shengen visa. No more hassles, no more far forward booking, no more documents collecting, no more visiting embassy visa centers etcetera... Well, all that happiness till next May, and we`ll see later.
Both journeys were really exciting, pretty crazy and so full of everything, that I`d prefer not not describe them now. But briefly:
- Geneva, in spite of its Swiss and posh image - I had it of my own. Sleeping under stars and sky, in a sleeping bag of course. Soaking under tha rain and getting sun-almost-burn the next day. Lots of music, lots of talks, lots of people around. Why all that? Suspens. Great fun, sort of I never had before.
- Paris... Well. To start with - I adore that city. Even knowing its less perfect parts and its citizens also not always perfect - doesn`t matter. Perhaps I was a Parisian in my previous life. This time Paris was so full of theatres for me. Every evening, during a week, which has already surprised even my closest friends. Right now, not going to tell more, because need to go out very soon... Oh, I also ate my first couscous - not very French of course, but in real Quartier Latin, in a realy lovely little restaurant... That is not to think that I can speak about food more that about the theatre.
The other thing I wanted to share. There was the French Cinema Today festival in Russia, the tenth already. Organized by Unifrance. They promote French cinema all over the world. This year there were eight new French films presented, ready for Russian release, plus several more films to complete the festival program. The festival was in Novosibirsk and then in Moscow. I just had one day to return from Paris.
Each new film was presented by its producers, or authors, or actors. And here is an exciting part: I was interviewing one of the person! That is my work - volunteer and enthusiastic - on the Cinema-France website. By the way it is registered as mass media now, so that`s how our team appeared to be there.
...The Gas company came to check appartment now, so they took my time, and now - need to run, have some appointment. Promise to tell about the interwiew later! I loved that experience!
Then I had Geneva for a weekend and Paris for a bit more. Which means Europe twice a month! That`s what happening when I - luckily - have the annual Shengen visa. No more hassles, no more far forward booking, no more documents collecting, no more visiting embassy visa centers etcetera... Well, all that happiness till next May, and we`ll see later.
Both journeys were really exciting, pretty crazy and so full of everything, that I`d prefer not not describe them now. But briefly:
- Geneva, in spite of its Swiss and posh image - I had it of my own. Sleeping under stars and sky, in a sleeping bag of course. Soaking under tha rain and getting sun-almost-burn the next day. Lots of music, lots of talks, lots of people around. Why all that? Suspens. Great fun, sort of I never had before.
- Paris... Well. To start with - I adore that city. Even knowing its less perfect parts and its citizens also not always perfect - doesn`t matter. Perhaps I was a Parisian in my previous life. This time Paris was so full of theatres for me. Every evening, during a week, which has already surprised even my closest friends. Right now, not going to tell more, because need to go out very soon... Oh, I also ate my first couscous - not very French of course, but in real Quartier Latin, in a realy lovely little restaurant... That is not to think that I can speak about food more that about the theatre.
The other thing I wanted to share. There was the French Cinema Today festival in Russia, the tenth already. Organized by Unifrance. They promote French cinema all over the world. This year there were eight new French films presented, ready for Russian release, plus several more films to complete the festival program. The festival was in Novosibirsk and then in Moscow. I just had one day to return from Paris.
Each new film was presented by its producers, or authors, or actors. And here is an exciting part: I was interviewing one of the person! That is my work - volunteer and enthusiastic - on the Cinema-France website. By the way it is registered as mass media now, so that`s how our team appeared to be there.
...The Gas company came to check appartment now, so they took my time, and now - need to run, have some appointment. Promise to tell about the interwiew later! I loved that experience!
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