Los Cabos
My first
flight for the trip to Los Cabos left Brisbane at 7am, which meant I was up at
4am to be at the airport two hours before my flight. From Brisbane I flew to
Sydney where I boarded my fourteen hour flight to LA for my second stopover. Now
one would think at an international airport McDonalds would sell its entire menu
all day given people are arriving from multiple time zones, but I was out of
luck. Chips (fries) and ice cream were not being served until 10:30am and I
arrived in LA at 7:30am. Luckily I had packaged food in my carry on left over
from the flight. After a five hour stopover in LA I boarded my final flight
that took me to Los Cabos where I arrived on the afternoon of Tuesday 13
November. I flew home on Sunday 18 and arrived back in Australia Tuesday 22. My
flight from LA to Sydney was delayed an hour so I just made my connecting
flight in Sydney, but on the plus side I had a spare seat beside me from LA so
was able to sleep more on the flight home.
From the
airport it was straight to the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar where I was staying.
This hotel is simply stunning. The buildings are a gorgeous architecture, the
colour scheme is very Mediterranean and the views overlooking the beach were
sensational. Everywhere you looked was picture perfect. The staff at the
Sheraton were amazing. All those I had the pleasure of dealing with were so
friendly and helpful. People were remembering my name by the next day and
recognising me at the restaurant where I ate every morning and evening. The
shuttle driver for the festival taking care of the Sheraton was also wonderful.
We had a number of conversations and he looked out for me, making sure that I
always got back to the hotel ok regardless of what time an event finished.
On Wednesday,
my first full day in Los Cabos, I took the hotel shuttle into town where I
spent the day looking around and shopping. I was able to get three bags of amazing
souvenirs and gifts in Mexico for about $300. Last time I was in the States I
nearly maxed out my credit card! When I got back to the hotel I went for a swim
in one of the various pools overlooking the ocean.
On the
Sunday, which was my last morning, I spent it wondering around the hotel
grounds taking some final photos and thanked the staff who had been so kind to
me during my stay. Not once while I was away; be it at the hotel, in town or
out at one of the festival’s event til late did I feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
Between Los Cabos itself and attending the festival I had the best time and am
so glad that I did it!
Baja Film Festival
First and
foremost: to those of you hoping to hear all about my meeting Mark I'm afraid
you're out of luck. He may make films for a living but he is still just a
normal person like the rest of us and his privacy is not open for public discussion.
I will not break the trust he has in me to satisfy your curiosity. This was
never a bragging right for me. I would have attended the festival regardless to
support FLO and the boys. It became the chance to meet someone whose work inspires
me and that I have a great deal of respect for. Therefore what I will say is
this: I got the opportunity to hang out with Mark at the festival Friday and
Saturday and he is one of the nicest people I've ever met.
The
opportunity to finally see FLO on the big screen was truly magical! The black
and white is so perfect and with speaker sound I was able to pick up extra
dialogue (which at this point in time escapes me, but I'm sure I'll remember
next time). There were approximately forty people at the screening, all of whom
stayed for what turned into a ten minute Q&A with Mark. There were a fair
few technical questions but people also had nothing but praise for FLO. One guy
commented on how much he'd enjoyed the film because it transported him into the
story and it felt like he was a witness to their lives rather than just
watching a film. I think that he perfectly described how many of us have felt
watching FLO.
Throughout
the three days of films I saw around fourteen short films and two features. I
generally found these to be interesting and enjoyable with so many different
types of stories and many unique concepts. Of course there were those that didn't overly appeal to me for whatever reason, but that is to be expected, and they
were still generally well done. The Convention Centre, where the screenings were held,
was an interesting building with plants covering the entire front wall of the outside
as well as the length of one wall inside the building. Very artistic in itself
and made for a great location to hold the festival screenings.
As it turns
out I was the talk of the Sheraton festival shuttle. On Saturday before the FLO
screening one of the other film-makers came over to talk to Mark and when he
introduced me and told him that I was from Australia James (I believe his name
was) asked if I was staying at the Sheraton. Apparently the shuttle driver and
hotel volunteer had been talking about ‘the girl from Australia’ on the bus to
and from event locations. One of the short film-makers also staying at the Sheraton was on the shuttle at the same time as me on a bunch of occasions and when she saw me sitting outside the screening rooms after her short was shown she came over and said she saw me in there and thanked me for watching her film.
Thursday
night’s event was the Film-makers' Reception held at Witikuta Jardin de Cactus.
There they held a screening of a very interesting and informative documentary
on the history of Mexican society/culture and their hopes for the future. But
what made the night all the more intriguing is that we were in the middle of a
cactus garden. The place was so surreal and beautiful; with the gardens lit in
various coloured lights.
Friday night’s
event was an art walk and open air concert held at the Marina. The concert
hosted an array of singers/bands. It was a great atmosphere and wonderful
evening.
Saturday
night was the closing ceremony, awards presentation and cocktail party, which
was held at the Convention Centre. Here I got to briefly meet Virginia Madsen,
who was lovely as well as a couple of other film-makers and one of Mark’s
industry friends who was great fun. She was on my flight back to LA and
recognised me at baggage claim so came over to say hello.
The organisers
of the Baja Film Festival did a fantastic job for their first event. The
locations were amazing, the evening events were great fun and the screenings
were well run.
