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Frameline San Francisco, USA - late June 2006

Castro and the Phoenix

Just got back from San Francisco a few hours ago, and still not altogether sure what to make of it.

It was our biggest audience so far (more than 100 people ñ see photo) but definitely our quietest. Yes, they responded to all the key scenes I mentioned in the last update, but werenít very vocal the rest of the time. Odder still, there were some super subtle moments that they got (which Iím not sure I got myself) and roared at. Decidedly queer.

Judging by what I saw and some of the things they said in the lively Q&A after, I believe they had trouble understanding the accents, especially when it came to following conversations where it switched from London to West Indian to Nigerian and back again.

That said, they seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves, despite the lack of noise ñ and so many people came up to me afterwards to tell me how much theyíd liked it. Even when I went to see other peopleís films our new fans would come over and introduce themselves and the friends theyíd been raving to about Rag Tag. In fact one went so far as to actually chauffeur me back to my Phoenix hotel after another film.

Said hotel was a story in itself, and perhaps added to the surreality of the Frameline festival for me. It is located near the exquisitely grand Civic Center ñ also the mothership of San Franciscoís large homeless population. The area was categorically shady, but the hotel was like this hippy oasis in the middle of it. Apparently rock bands on tour regularly take over the entire place for the duration of their stay in San Francisco. I can see the appeal ñ it made up for the lack of security with character, colour and comfort.

Although I didnít go with any actors this time, I wasnít short of company. When I wasnít followed home by one of my homeless mentally unstable but awfully friendly neighbours, I had plenty of family and friends eager to rescue me. I spent more time at night barbeques and culturally warped baby showers than I did in the bay area. People even took me shopping (yes, me!).

If it wasnít for these outside preoccupations, the vastness of the Frameline festival would have swallowed me up. Short of attending a few screenings and giving out the obligatory Rag Tag post cards I assumed Iíd gone unnoticed by the bigger corporate fish in attendance. But Iíve just come back to London and found several interesting email messages, one of which is from the Sundance Channel, requesting a screening copy of Rag Tag!

Iíll deal with all that on my return. Iím off to Sweden in a few hours (to recharge my batteries for Los Angeles the following week) so need to unpack and repack.

See Snaps for buildings, babies and backlog queues.

Adaora x