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Newfest New York, USA - June 2006

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Weíre back from New York and another excellent reception.

Rag Tag was screened twice ñ Friday evening the theatre was about 60% full, but by Sunday afternoon it seems they had all told their friends and it was about 80% occupied.

Though larger, the New York crowdís initial response was significantly quieter than the crowd in Toronto ñ I suspect some of the Englishisms and Africanisms proved challenging at the start. But by half way through they really seemed to have adjusted and the closer we came to the end, the louder they became.

Having watched it with these two very different demographics (Toronto was a mix of ages and sexualities and at least 60% black ñ New York was mainly young and middle aged gay white males) I was delighted to see many of the same things resonating. Of course, everyone is very taken with Rag, Tag and Pa Tagbo. But there were certain bits where individual characters simply OWNED the audience e.g. Olivia in the love scene, Xin when Rag knocks on his door, Ma Tagbo at the funeral reception, Heather on her anti-Nigerian rant, Philip and Sophie at the post Simmons Reese interview, Olisa dealing with a hungover Rag, Keisha really dealing with a hungover Rag ñ the list goes on and on.

Enor and Kristian also proved big hits and several adoring fans approached them for autographs or simply came up to us on the street to tell us how much they enjoyed or were moved by the film. I have to admit, as pleased as I was, it did weird me out a little ñ but the actors seemed to take it in their stride. Natural born stars.

Enor and Kristian also fielded questions in the in depth Question and Answer session after screenings ñ filling in gaps about how I found my beautiful cast, the music and attitudes to the film in Nigeria. Everyone wants to know when Rag Tag will be released. A small US distributor got in touch while I was in New York and Iím looking into it. However Basil (the lovely director at NewFest ) reckons I should hold out for the bigger boys - perhaps after L.A, or if we end up going to Philadelphia too. Early days yet.

But I have to fess up. We didnít spend all our time working it - we were in Manhattan after all. NewFest put us up in a proper suite at Flatotel (bedroom, kitchen, dining area, living room) and tearing ourselves away from the room before midday just wasnít happening. In fact, if it wasnít for my relatives in New Jersey and Kristian staying with a friend in Brooklyn, we probably wouldnít have gone much beyond Times Square. Enor became a hardcore Manhattanite, abandoning taxis for the subway, and taking dance classes on broadway. Kristian found himself modelling on Atlantic Avenue in an African Couture fashion show for Moshood. Their clothes are lovely and I recommend everyone check out their website ñ especially since Kristianís pictures should be up there soon and I hear heís showing a lot of flesh.

All in all, we had one hell of a trip and each seriously considered extending our tickets. But onwards and upwards ñ Iím off to San Francisco is just over a week, and hopefully many more adventures await.

Adaora x