Mill Valley, place of legend. It was an honor to have been selected for the festival, and I was tickled pink to be there. Arrived just late enough though for all the restaurants to be closed, so I finagled my way into the Ang Lee tribute dinner, which was a lot of good food and lively chatter. No lust or caution though (tank you, I’ll be here all deh veek). Did reconnect with Janis Plotkin, who in 1998 programmed my short doc Mah-Jongg:The Tiles That Bind in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and set me on the filmmaking odyssey I’ve been on since. It was great to see her, and to briefly catch up on
the last nine years which had landed me back in California and her at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Having her be a part of this new fest tour of mine felt like coming home.The next day, I threw myself into film watching and postcard pushing. Made a few local friends even as I fretted about my screening the next morning, fearing an onslaught of political questions, which my film decidedly and deliberately doesn’t address. Was there a place in the hearts of committed Free Tibet-ers (which I assume Marin County is packed with, and more power to ‘em), for a film about the rural, 85% of the people who will in fact be free if/when Tibet is free, but for now don't have it nearly as bad as their city-dwelling counterparts?
YES! And phew. For a Sunday morning at 11am, we had a great turnout to the Throckmorton Theatre. And again, a lively Q&A with a smattering of politically-oriented questions but a majority of thought-provoking ones about life at the top of the world (where I was sitting at that point!) Celebratory lunch (sense a theme?) followed with my father’s old elementary school buddy Bill and his family, and my old college…uh….friend, Eric (speaking of a whole other story…), and my dear friend and field sound recordist Caleb who had flown up from LA for the occasion, even though he still hasn't really forgiven me for not taking him to Tibet. Good times.
Monday morning, Caleb and I were off to Napa, topless, on special invitation to visit the exclusive Grace Family Vineyards. I had encountered Dick Grace when I was looking for a wine sponsor for my Brooklyn Film Festival World Premiere party, and googled ‘Buddhist Winery’ on a lark. Lo and behold, there he was! Wine donations at that time were not an option since his costs $800 a bottle (gulp – or rather, slowly sip and savor) but we chatted for a long time about all things Tibet and that greater part of the world, where he himself does exemplary humanitarian work. How better to spend a morning than in the company of such a kindred spirit. Lunch with Caleb at a beautiful patio’ed restaurant before our triumphant return south to the Oakland Airport to meet his plane. Talk about the profound to the ridiculous.
I wish I could continue to write about the wonderful momentum at the festival and the exciting adventures that continued apace. However, bad news from home brought me back to earth and to the east coast earlier than expected. Won’t take you there with me, but will pick up on what happened next very soon.
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