Posted on Aug 20th, 2009
by 
Annika
I think my ability to laugh at myself...usually at the moments when I try to be the most organized and 'perfect 'the coffee dribbles down my while top, or I loose the parking ticket and can't get out of the shopping center..they are intensely human and dearly funny!!!
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Posted on Jul 6th, 2009
by Annika
Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies. ~Erich Fromm
I love this quote... its about simplicity...ohhh
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Posted on Jun 30th, 2009
by Annika
Wow what a thrill and a breath of fresh air!!
Sometimes a situation becomes clearer by the experience of its opposite. It took 11,000m amongst the clouds of China for me to wake up to the full bodied experience that was CANNES.
Cannes for us was about navigating our way around all the doom gloom panic that underpinned alot the film industry/the market ,I guess a reflection of the world financial situation and a feeling that something is changing in the whole belly of the beast.
Glamorous, traditional ( bordering on conservative) beautiful and sometimes very ugly... intense, sweet...
Paolo Coelho has recently written a book about the Cannes festival called "The winner stands alone" If you'd like to read a free chapter you can go to his website http://www.paulocoelho.com. I was too scared to read the book before Cannes just in case it coloured my experience, now I think I'm too scared to read it just in case it confirms the feeling. For BELLADONNA the whole experience was necessary and positive as it gained International interest and as received exposure which is now leading us into interesting territories.. more on that later.
When I look back on the most talented people I have known who chose not to pursue their creative expression, and I reflect on the reasons why there are so few second time filmmaker (especially in Australia) it would have to relate this very situation.
The mix of money power and glamour is certainly a heady one. It makes humans forget the very essence of their being.It becomes a game of dark magic not light creativity which you either choose to play or not, and thus the exit sign for alot of artist who simply can't see themselves in this environment.
So when the opportunity to have the Asian premiere of BELLADONNA in Shanghai came along I was excited for the film but unsure of what that meant for me.... Well.... it was a gift... and enormous amount of fun. I feel honoured, and my Spirits are restored both for humanity and creativity. I, like many, had reservations about what to expect from China, but our whole experience was met by gentle, open, wise people who were at a turning point in their lives.
After BELLADONNA'S opening, we had the Q & A where the audience asked wonderful, insightful and brave questions about the theme of the movie. "Do you think you can really have images from other lives come through your dreams?"
One of the most poignant moments for me was when our interpreter (a young woman Cici) was telling us how much she enjoyed the film, and her favourite line was ....( pause as she though of it) " That somehow we are all profoundly linked to one another"...
Shanghai is a huge festival and one of the biggest in Asia. The Jury consisted of Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), Andy MacDowell, Xavier Koller, Jianxin Huang etc
Alot of the European countries had huge delegations of Sales Agents, Film Funding representatives.Their Embassies throwing impressive occasionsto foster the Chinese and build international relationship (we attended the German who which was impressive to say the least) There is a feeling, kind of like champagne bubbles where anything is possible... how exciting.
A big thank you to the Australian Consulate especially Tom Conner, Dene Yeaman, and the Australian Trade Commission for throwing a wonderful party for us, and the other filmmakers whose films featured in the festival.
Thank you and keep visiting here as it is all unfolding beautifully!! ANNIKA
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Posted on Jan 20th, 2009
by Annika
I think the more you 'really' look at something, anything ,the more beautiful it becomes, a butterfly... mud... someones hand....a stale donut...although a frest donut tastes much much better!
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Belladonna
October 2009 
