Day 1 of the Woods Hole Film Festival!!

I arrived in Woods Hole yesterday afternoon after a quick flight from New York to Boston and a short bus ride to Cape Cod. Immediately after checking into my hotel in Falmouth I took a cab to the Woods Hole Film Festival headquarters, where I was given a festival badge, which allows me free entry into every event and screening during the fest, as well as a tote bag with a bunch of goodies. I especially liked the chocolate covered cranberries. They really know how to treat filmmakers here because after checking in with the festival I went to the opening reception at a bar called the Fish Monger, where I was given more free food and drinks.

This is my first film festival, so I didn't know what to expect before coming here, but so far it's been great. I met a lot of filmmakers and we traded a lot of war stories. I didn't go to film school so I don't have a lot of friends who are filmmakers, so it is really cool to meet other people doing the same thing as I am -- making movies on their own and trying to screen them where ever they can.

After the opening reception I went to the opening night screening of the restored documentary "Blue Water, White Death" which is about a group of divers searching for the great white shark. The movie was originally shot in the late 60's, but somehow the print was lost for a long time and MGM recently found it and restored the film. I think it's being released on DVD this week. It was a fascinating documentary about these divers who were obsessed with filming the great white in it's natural habitat. I recommend seeing it if you can.

Following that screening I watched a few short films and met more filmmakers at the opening night party held at a bar in Woods Hole. Everyone is really nice and very welcoming to the filmmakers here. From what I can tell the town of Woods Hole is really psyched about this festival because there are signs, banners, and posters up all over town promoting the festival. So for an out of town filmmaker, it's a relief to see that the people here are supportive of independent artists. That means I might actually have an audience at my screening!

After the party I got a ride back to my hotel in Falmouth and collapsed. I had been up since 6am and was completely exhausted. And this is just the first day! There are 7 days left!

I just got back from a brunch with all of the attending filmmakers at a beautiful home on the bay. Strangely enough, I found out one of the filmmakers here is from Allendale, NJ which is about five minutes from where I grew up in Upper Saddle River. She even went to the same high school as me! What a small world.

Now I'm sitting in a coffee shop drinking an iced latte trying to cool off before I go to another reception at 3:30 followed by a night filled with more screenings!!

Thanks for checking in. I'll be posting all week, so stay tuned!!

-Anthony