At certain times each day a stream of people, sporting little red FilmFour neckchains, can be seen spanning the void between the three main venues at the festival. Now you may say that this is a good thing, that these poor people who sit in darkened rooms all day should get a bit of fresh air. Believe me, even though it's a mere ten minutes walk between the Filmhouse and the Cameo, it can seem like a marathon the tenth time you make the journey in a day. Add the Edinburgh rain and it makes for a very miserable, bedraggled bunch. I'm almost tempted to do what I've seen Managing Director Ginnie Atkinson do: take a taxi.
Mutant watch
Whilst Edinburgh has become a mad oasis of cinematic culture, it's the release of the X-Men which has gripped the rest of nation. Not wanting to miss out, the top bods at the festival watched a special preview screening at the ABC. A little competition is now running to come up with suitable mutant nicknames for everyone at the festival.
Nurse Betty, Where Art Thou?
The big Gala event of the day, the excellent Nurse Betty, was unfortunately not graced by the presence of its star, Renee Zellweger. It appears that her publicists couldn't afford the plane ticket to fly her up from London where's she's just finished shooting Bridget Jone's Diary.
In related news, it appears as if George Clooney won't be making an appearance to promote his latest film, O Brother Where Art Thou? Despite making an appearance in Birmingham for the opening of The Perfect Storm, neither Clooney, nor the Coen Brothers will be turning up in Edinburgh.
A Kiss Is Just A Kiss
Despite the Odeon in Birmingham allegedly banning kissing couples from its screens, a spokesman has denied this will affect any other cinemas in the chain, including Edinburgh.
Life Through The Lens
The first of the Reel Life segment started today with acclaimed French cinematographer Darius Khondji being interviewed by Seamus McGarvey. Khondji, who has been Director of Photography on such films as Delicatessen, Se7en, Evita and The Beach explained how he chose projects according to the director he got to work with. He also recalled how Roman Polanski had told him that he was "too tall to be a camera operator". Perhaps with those long legs of his, Darius can make it from the Filmhouse to the Cameo in only five minutes...
