Thank Ryan Werner for helping to bring two of the best films of the year—The Duchess of Langeais and Paranoid Park—to New York. Another find, Flight of the Red Balloon, opens this week. This commitment to excellence requires a busy schedule.— Melissa Anderson
May 17, 2007
Cannes, France: 10am screening of Mrs. Ratcliffe’s Revolution. My colleagues are at Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon. Slightly jealous. At noon, see 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and let my colleagues know it’s very good but I think it’s too tough. At 8pm, get shut out of Red Balloon screening. I am annoyed.
Aug 24, 2007
While on vacation in Paris, see advance screening of Claude Chabrol’s A Girl Cut in Two in a very quaint theater. The curtain closes after every reel, and I must get up to tell the projectionist. Report back positively to our acquisitions team.
Sept 10, 2007
Cristian Mungiu (4 Months) and Juliette Binoche (Red Balloon) leave Toronto International Film Festival. Harmony Korine (Mister Lonely), Gus Van Sant and Gabe Nevins (both Paranoid Park) arrive. We also have Catherine Breillat (The Last Mistress) in town. IFC is showing eight films at this fest.
Nov 27, 2007
New York: Review posters for Paranoid Park; look at various designs for this film. We also have hired Mark Woollen & Associates in L.A. to do the trailer.
Dec 11, 9:30am
Breakfast with Chris Apple from agnès b. at Pastis, with colleague Shani Ankori. Discuss release of Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. Agnès b. is one of the producers.
Dec 11, 12:30pm
IFC weekly staff meeting to discuss many issues on various projects.
Dec 11, 2:30pm
Marketing-PR meeting to discuss upcoming release of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and the Jacques Rivette film The Duchess of Langeais. Most of the discussion is about how to position 4 Months so it doesn’t simply become known as “the Romanian abortion film.”
Dec 11, 4pm
Meeting with our online agency Mammoth Advertising about how we can improve our website. An ongoing discussion in this day and age.
Dec 11, 7pm
Screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Blown away. Go home and watch Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love.
Jan 25, 2008
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days opens at the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue.
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