EIFF 2000: Day 2

Wanna see my film online?

by Trinity

It's been a fairly quiet day, with many people recovering from last night's party. More parties are planned for the week ahead with events being held to celebrate the screenings of 101 Reykjavik, Nurse Betty, The House of Mirth and Billy Elliot. Let's hope they're all as lively.

Wandering round the film festival talking to people, you can't help but notice the number of internet start-ups being touted. Almost every other person I've talked to has been eagerly describing his short film site or her live streaming video review channel. It's an exciting area to be in, and the festival has acknowledged this with a number of industry events.

It's becoming a crowded marketplace, with everyone jostling for money; in some ways it's getting as bad as the film production funds. The main difficulty seems to be getting some form of name recognition - everyone knows who Atom Films are now, but two years ago that was very different. What I'm still waiting for is someone with an original spin on things that will truly captivate me. I won't hold my digital breath.

The first of the Late Night Romp strand kicked off with the most original marketing gimmick so far. Forget postcards, pens or T-shirts: Blackstar gave everyone in the audience a small, fluffy bag containing cigarette papers, matches and a condom. The perfect pack for the festival Romper?

Festival director Lizzie Francke appears to have settled into the routine, after the technical difficulties of the Opening Day. After a night of boogieing on the dance floor, she was forced to defend the lack of celebrities attending the premiere on several daytime news programmes. This didn't seem to disconcert her at all as she skilfully sold the festivals good points.

Finally, the rumours are starting to spread about the identity of the Surprise Movie. Current favourites are Robert Duvall's footballing movie, The Cup (originally expected to get its UK release earlier this Summer) and complex corruption film The Yards, starring James Caan.

Keep watching this space for more news and rumour...

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