Nothing could beat the first screening of THE U.S. vs. JOHN LENNON at TIFF 06. Starting with the line outside The Ryerson Theatre snaking around three city blocks...to crossing the red carpet bordered by dozens of TV cameras, lights, reporters and microphones...to the SRO crowd responding in all the right places (hearing laughter ripple through that large an audience was an indescribable feeling)...from sitting next to Yoko and experiencing her powerful response to what she saw on screen...to the standing ovations at film's end and as the credits rolled...the Toronto experience is something I will never, ever forget. This and the other TIFF 06 screenings jump started a wild 3-month roller coaster ride of private screenings, meeting the press from around the world, interacting with other filmmakers whose work I admire and playing in 67 theaters across the country. The film subsequently opened in numerous international markets, with Japan still to come later this year.
It was all enormously rewarding, thrilling and positively validated the long
hours/days/weeks spent in the small, dark, windowless editing room without a
clue how people would respond to our work. And speaking of work...I just
finished a new film, HEAVEN, exploring how the world's 5 foremost religions
conceive of Heaven and how certain people/groups within those religions live
their life to get there. And more to come including, I hope, a return to
TIFF in 08!
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