The Excuse of the Rotterdam Film Festival

Last Saturday, my friends and I spent half the day picking movies to watch during the “Rotterdam Film Festival”:http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com (and standing in line to buy tickets). We’re going to go for two days, during which we’ll watch eight films. Most of which have something to do with Japan, architecture, sex and/or drugs.

The funny thing is we paid full price for eight films that, if they’re ever going to be played in movie theatres, we’d never go see. Also, we’re conscious of the fact that most are probably average at best. (Last year, we had something like a 50-50 hit and miss ratio, which made us feel lucky.) But this is not the point.

The point is that we’re having two great days, three if you include last Saturday (which would be more accurate). The film festival is providing us with an excuse to get together, hang out, chat about life and death, feel intellectual, eat noodle soup and drink banana beer. And we’re happy to accept the invitation.

(Also, the film festival enables the type of magical coincidences that seem to occur around socials happenings. Walking back to Rotterdam Central Station at night, I bumped into a friend I hadn’t talked to in four years. Last time I saw him? The Rotterdam Film Festival in 2003.)