CTFF.

So, the inaugural Connecticut Film Festival. In brief, the screening was so-so but the Sunday brunch was great.

Screening: there were about four people there who had no connection with any of the shorts in the program. The rest of us were filmmakers and entourage. The projector was all messed up; it was way too bright, and the aspect ratio was incorrect, so all of the films were stretched widescreen when they were supposed to be 4:3. After a while, you got used to it and wondered why the real people in the theater were so thin.

There was an ad-hoc Q&A afterward, at which I stunned everyone with my huge production budget ($29.95 for a royalty-free recording of Also Sprach Zarathustra).

I was in a foul mood for various reasons on which I won't elaborate, so I called an old friend who lives in Queens and asked if I could crash on his couch overnight. Graciously, he agreed. I had a nice dinner and a nicer conversation with him and his wife. I even got to meet his daughter for the first time ever--what a cutie pie!

The next morning, I was inclined to just go home, but after all, I had come up there to network and make myself known, not just see my movie. So I trucked out for a 10:00 brunch in Westport, feeling sorry for myself, and once I was there I met up with a couple other filmmakers and had a decent hamburger. Then was the awards ceremony. The shorts award went to someone else. I wasn't surprised. Another filmmaker at my table won the feature film award, which was cool. Then they announced the Connecticut Filmmaker award, and it went to some movie called "The Cell-Phone," by Zach Br--wait, what?

Well, technically I guess I'm a Connecticut filmmaker, in that I grew up there. But I haven't lived there since 1990. Don't tell anyone. Certainly was a hell of a surprise, though!

So, once the engraving is done, I'll have a nice glass sculpture to place next to my IPIFF Eagle. Makes me wish I had a fireplace, so I could put them on my mantel.