CIFF: Joe Swanberg's Diary, Part 1

Joe Swanberg (above, second from right, with Kate Winterich, Kris Williams and Kevin Pittman) the director, co-writer and co-star of CIFF entry Kissing on the Mouth, is keeping a diary of his experience at this year's festival for Cinematical. You can follow the process of his next film, LOL, at www.lolthemovie.com

We surveyed the reviews this morning, and they weren't great. Luckily we got a lot of local coverage that we hope will offset any negative or mediocre write-ups of the film. We had no idea what to expect when we showed up to the theater. The weather was cold and drizzly, which is a good thing for film festivals. We always have the most trouble when it's beautiful outside. We were happy that our first screening fell on the the worst weather day this month.

The line of people at the theater slowly started to get intimidating. Tonight was our hometown premiere, so we knew a lot of friends would show up, but we were seeing a lot of strange faces, and the number continued to grow.  By the time they started letting people in, the line was snaking around the lobby of the theatre, and we were all freaking out.

 
We debated whether to stay and watch the movie, or to try and eat during the screening.  We've all seen the film so many times that it has become hard to sit through.  Our screenings in Montreal were too hard to watch, but we were curious to know how the local audience would react to the film.  After the introduction, I stuck around to make sure the projection and sound were OK, and after a few minutes, I was hooked on listening to the audience and trying to gauge their reaction.  The energy was great, and before I knew it, I had already watched 20 minutes of the film.  I snuck out for a while to relax, but we all wanted to go back in and watch.  We could feel that people were really  getting into it, and eventually we all ended up back in the theatre hallway, half watching the movie, half listening to the audience.

There are certain points that we use as references when watching the film.  We can usually tell at these certain points, judging by the laughter, whether the crowd is into the film or not. Tonight, they were totally into it.  We could feel the good energy from the local audience, and we were really excited.  When the film ended we did a great Q&A and stuck around the theatre for another 20 minutes talking to people. It's always nice to be the last film of the night at a Festival, because there's no rush to get people out of the theater so they can seat for the next film.  Sometimes you feel like the film ends and they're already trying to move everyone out because  they are running behind, but tonight we were able to answer all the questions and meet with people one on one afterward.  It was as close to the perfect screening as I think we will get.

Saturday morning we have a early panel about making films in the Midwest.  We haven't been asked to be on a panel yet, so it's an exciting first.  I'm hoping the people are awake and excited, because I love discussing the film.  It's my favorite part.  I'm not sure how nuts and bolts the discussion will be tomorrow, but I think we have plenty to say about making a film with no money and limited equipment, so maybe people will be interested in that.