Florida Film Festival

I made it to the Florida Film Festival on April 8th for Italian Cinema Night. The film 8 1/2 by Frederico Fellini was being screened at 6:30PM followed by free Italian food by the fountain. I went to The Daily City Lounge and found Mark Baratelli sitting in one of the 60’s styled plastic chairs busy checking his iPhone. Every chair had Daily City stickers on them. I had done a quick painting of a Hollywood red carpet couple with the faces cut out. I wanted to see the board in action. The corners of the painting had been crudely painted wit grey paint that was three shades lighter in value than the grey I had painted. I’ll have to go back to touch it up. I was about an hour into the sketch when a filmmaker and her parents stopped by. The parents stuck their faces in the celebrity port holes for the photo opportunity. The wife’s face fit snug as a bug but he husband had a large head and he angled his face thanks to his daughter’s art direction. Within a second the photo was shot and they dispersed.

Mark had plenty of swag at his lounge. He had fliers printed with suggested Orlando hot spots for visiting filmmakers.  He also had hand fans with The Daily City logo on them. The lounge was unfortunately located behind another information tent so patrons at the Eden Bar couldn’t see the lounge. Mark told me that the lounge had been dead for the first two days of the festival. I left the seats in pencil for as long as I could, hoping a crowd would come to populate the scene. They never showed. Before my sketch was complete, the bar maid started wheeling away the portable bar. Mark shouted out, “Does that mean its over!” She shouted back, “It’s over alright.” Across the street, Mark noticed some guy in a large Mexican hat pounding a drum.

When the sketch was done, I went to see if the Italian food was ready. They were still setting up so I decided to leave. I still haven’t seen a film. I want to see an animated feature called “The Painting” directed by Jean-Francois Lagionie. The film is about an unfinished work of art. Lola’s best friend Claire loves Ramo, but their love is forbidden. Claire and Lola are “Halfies,” or artist’s unfinished characters, and Ramo is an “Alldunn,” or completed figure. These classes within the painting do not mingle socially, and when Claire and Ramo’s love is uncovered, Lola and Claire are forced to search out the creator somewhere near the border of the painting. On their adventure they meet Quill, a “Sketchie,” or a simple charcoal outline, from the class below theirs. I’m starting to feel that I need to learn French and move to Paris.