The festival is so massive, it is beginning to feel like a solar system with several planets in rotation. There's planet Serious Film (and Filmmaker), planet Hang, planet Indie, planet Poser Indie, planet Hollywood, planet pre-Hollywood, planet Party, planet Industry, planet Media, planet Swag, planet Cheesy, planet Wannabe, planet Tourist and perhaps many more. They all feel like separate worlds orbiting the big sun, which is the festival itself.

They rotate around each other with out ever making contact, each spinning in its own direction, servicing its own agenda. And where are the filmmakers in all this? We are the space travellers, visiting each planet in turn or gazing out at them from icy, clouded windows. I, however, don't feel like I'm ever really touching down anywhere. Just drifitng by the planets, moons and stars - some more closely than others. I enjoy the distance and witnessing the journies of my fellow filmmakers/space travellers....

Or maybe it's just that my head is so soaked with booze, everything feels like its drifting in space. Either way, I'm enjoying the ride....

Tonight is the big "premiere" of my Shorts 3 program. Actually, the film has already screened 3 times, but I chose to avoid watching it until tonight when many friends and colleagues will be in attendance. I can sit in the program with them and experience it with them on the big screen for the first time. I, of course, love showing films to audiences of strangers and seeing how they wash over them. But its most thrilling for me if that audience is peppered with people in whom I have some kind of emotional/social/professional investment.

Maybe I'll actually touch down tonight on my own planet.....