Ana & Isa’s Blog
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Sunday, 13 November 2011
Tardy Tales From Tokyo 10/31/11
Posted by Isa
10/31/11
Dear friends,
Once again, I thank you for reading this blog, and for following the events of “The Power Of Two” in film form.
Wow. Where do I start? The last few weeks have been a whirlwind as I’ve traveled 6000 miles from home and back. We have been blessed with opportunities to travel thanks to the film – and our savings accounts!
First, on Oct. 17, I head off to Santa Fe for the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival. We met up with Robin and Anna Modlin, Ana and Trent and my parents. Poor Andrew had to work and couldn’t join us. Perhaps Ana has written about Santa Fe, so I’ll refrain for now.
I’ll just start off with my travels to Tokyo. After an adrenaline-filled evening with friends at the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, I made it back to the gorgeous Casa Encantado house/estate (courtesy of a friend in the CF community) to rush around packing, dump off my warm clothes for Ana to bring home, and stuff my suitcase with many gifts for the Japanese. I set two alarms for 3AM and slept for 4 hours. I awoke before the alarms rang, with my parents calling my name—they both woke up early to send me off! How blessed I am to have such love.
At 3:30AM on Friday morning, 10-21-11, I drove in the pitch dark to Albuquerque, and somehow in my cautious speed ended up getting late. I panicked as I rushed to park illegally at the departure gate, checked in my heavy suitcase, and then went to return the car. I barely made the 5:30AM flight! I dozed quickly until the plane landed at SFO at 7AM. I waited for Andrew until 9AM, and then we boarded a 10-hour flight to Tokyo. Almost immediately, I took two Ambien and passed out.
With no hassle, we arrived at Narita Airport around 3PM on Saturday, Oct. 22. It seems so easy to travel to Tokyo! I felt somewhat rested, which really helped. Poor Andrew was catatonic. We managed to buy bus tickets without a hitch, and boarded a bus for a 2 hour ride to our downtown Tokyo hotel. Our hotel stays were kindly hosted by the very generous parents of our friend Misako in Takanawa. We are so fortunate to receive so much support and generosity for all of our film efforts! Well, immediately we checked into our room, zipped open our suitcases and then showered rapidly to get ready for the Tokyo International Film Festival Opening Night Gala. This “TIFF” was our most prestigious film festival yet, and we were all so honored and excited to get into this festival.
No time to be tired, as we had a party to go to! So, 20 hours after leaving Santa Fe, I wore a long red dress and took a cab with Andrew to meet Marc Smolowitz, Naomi Takeuchi and Misako Kitaoka at the Grand Prince Hotel. Unfortunately, Andrew and I missed the 2PM “Green Carpet,” a procession of movie stars and photographers down a street in Roppongi Hills, lined up with screaming Tokyo fans. Naomi and Misako represented us, along with Marc in his new tuxedo. Naomi and Misako had their hair done and looked like movie stars. I felt oddly informal.
We were treated to a lovely evening with a six course meal and speeches by prominent people at TIFF. We met filmmakers and an actor from France, and mingled among the fanciest movie star types in Tokyo. As you can imagine, the evening was long and drawn out and soon I couldn’t keep my eyes straight. Andrew and I left as soon as the evening wound down, and passed out immediately in our hotel room.
We slept well and awoke with a full day ahead. We got dressed, met with our friends Naomi, Marc and Misako, at Toho Cinema just outside Roppongi. The weather was warm and sunny—as usual I started to sweat profusely from the humidity. Andrew grabbed a Starbucks and I refused to have American food for breakfast. I went to the local Family Mart and bought a few onigiri rice balls and natto-maki…. My Heaven! We ate outside while some of our friends arrived: Akemi Takeuchi (Naomi’s sister) from Shizuoka, their cousin, Marc’s friends, Misako’s friends, etc. We also greeted the Takeuchi parents, who haven’t changed since I knew them when I was a child. Around 10:15AM, Marc, Andrew, Naomi, Misako and I were lead into a small room next to the front of the theater by at least three Japanese people. They sat us down and proceeded to draw out a diagram of how and where we’d walk and stand for the Q & A. It was Japanese-style- very organized and detail oriented. A stark contrast to our Santa Fe experience.
Soon the theater started to fill up. Though it was hardly sold out ( as we hoped), we had about 70% of the seats filled. In the distance I saw my cousin Yuki and her daughter seated, and I was able to greet my uncle Sukeyoshi and aunt Yoko. Soon enough, the film started and we sat through yet another screening, which could’ve been around my 15th time seeing the film! This time, however, there were Japanese subtitles. I tried to read them and realized that the meaning and emotion didn’t really come through. I also laughed at times, because of the strange words used. For example, in the film when Ana talks about her wedding, and “walking down the aisle,” the subtitles said, “walking down the virgin road.” Ha! As if!
When the credits started, we were escorted out of the theater by a man with a ear piece, and directed into the small room again. In an orderly fashion, one by one we were introduced and walked on stage for the Q & A. The emcee asked each of us were asked how we felt about being at TIFF. We all gave the same answers- how grateful we were; how unreal this was; how thankful we were to our attendees. This left very little time for the actual Q&A, so it was a bit of a blur… I don’t remember the questions except that there was only time for 2-3.
Then, I was hounded by crowds as I exited the theater, and was in a stairwell or hallway that was seriously about 90 degrees. Once again I was sweating profusely. I decided something must be wrong with my temperature regulation, as all the Japanese were in sweaters and jackets. I met my relatives for a photo, but strangely they took off right away. I was grateful that they came, though. And I met with a number of other Japanese who had questions and comments. One guy came from Shizuoka… only because we had met him on the streets of Santa Fe earlier that last week! He was a tourist visiting Santa Fe, and my mom chatted with him about TIFF. He came all the way– I was shocked! What a small world.
I pushed my way out of the sweaty hallway for fresh air and continued to mix and mingle outside. Our friend, Rumiko Aoyama, a mother of a CF teen who passed away in 2004, came with her other daughter and Hanae –san, another mom of a 12 year old who passed away. This film was probably heart-wrenching for them, to see a life that might have been for their kids who died way too young from CF.
Soon, it was time to say goodbye to our friends and head to Roppongi Hills for some media interviews. I was completely overwhelmed. While struggling with the language, I felt so much support and love from friends from a far-off land I hardly know well!
Roppongi Hills was a huge modern complex with a 50+ story skyscraper and complex architecture. Everything was spotless and sparkling; the foyer of the building featured fancy fountains and glass walls. This sort of building make me wonder why Japanese say organ donation is against nature: there is very little about these skyscrapers that are natural!
We had one interview with a Chinese journalist after stuffing our faces with more rice balls. If I didn’t get constipated from this pure rice nourishment, it’d be a miracle! After the interview, we head down to Shimbashi, to celebrate a meal with the Takeuchi parents. We sat down in a private room and were treated to an immensely luxurious meal of over ten courses including foie gras, squash ice cream, okra tofu, sashimi, grilled fish, etc. This was a once in a lifetime, five star meal. Once again, we were indulged by the Takeuchi parents… just as they have spoiled us like all of our lives. It was so nice to sit down and catch up with Akemi and the family, just like old times. I had to remember Andrew couldn’t understand Japanese, as we just chatted away without realizing the conversation was all in Japanese. Fortunately, he sat with Marc, Naomi and Mr. Takeuchi (who is very fluent).
Our first full day in Tokyo was indeed a grand success. People came from all over to see our film… including some distributors and reporters. Though the film wasn’t sold out as we’d hoped, the audience received the film well and it was a great day. As always, Andrew and I passed out as soon as we got to the hotel.
I’ll spare you for now and post more about our TIFF fun in my next post. More tales to come!
Thanks for caring,Isabel
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Sunday, 16 October 2011
AUM: October update and more belated DC screening stories… 10-16-11
Posted by Isa
Dear Readers:
Thank you again for reading this blog.
It’s almost time to embark on my busiest month yet—so I need to sit down and finish writing a blog of my September trip to Washington DC! It’s...
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Tuesday, 11 October 2011
A September evening with the United Network of Organ Sharing: Written 10/11/11
Posted by Isa
Dear Friends:
This blog is long overdue, as it’s already October 7 (no it’s now Oct 12). Where has the time gone? It was my turn to keep writing about our trip to Washington, DC, following our...
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Sunday, 18 September 2011
Life And Death Matters Festival and San Francisco Gala on September 10th!
Posted by Isa
Dear friends,
The tenth anniversary of September 11th 2001 has passed, yet I confess my attention did not come close to remembering the historical events of that day. In the last weeks, “The Power Of Two” film...
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Friday, 09 September 2011
Eat, Shit and Pray
Posted by Ana
Eat , Shit and Pray- Ana Stenzel 9/8/11
So our much anticipated Bay Area film gala is in tomorrow, and I decided I look like Olive Oil. You remember, from the Popeye cartoon? That damsel in distress...
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Friday, 02 September 2011
NYC and POT and…. Irene! 8-29-11
Posted by Isa
A big blog on the Big Apple…
August 29, 2011
One day later than expected, Andrew and I are flying home from New York City following the East Coast premiere of “The Power of Two.” You probably all...