Adventuring to the Bay of Quinte and the inaugural Hollywood North Film Festival
/A lengthy summary of my experience last weekend heading to a festival screening Don't Tell My Mom. Please enjoy!
Festival information: http://www.hnff.ca/
Day 1 (The Journey Over)
My trip to Belleville began at 4:00am with my first ever Über ride (I officially live in LA now) to LAX catching my flight to Chicago. I had no idea that I was in for one of the most hectic travels days I have yet encountered. Upon landing in Chicago, I casually strolled through O’Hare airport and decided to ask for help to find my gate. My flight from Chicago ® Toronto was on a small airline, Porter Airways, so I would probably need to do some walking.
As I asked the info desk, I noticed something that I had failed to register so far: this flight was flying out of Midway airport, not O’Hare! My situation quickly changed from relaxed to frantic:
“How far away is Midway?!”
“An hour an a half by train”
“My flight leaves in that amount of time!”
Without any hesitation I ran out the airport, hopped in the nearest cab, and told him to step on it across town to Midway airport, with every second counting! As someone from Denver, I never questioned there might by two different airports I would be using in the same city. If there’s any benefit to this honest mistake, it’s that now that I’ve made it and you are reading this, it will prevent the mistake from happening again.
My cab driver was not in as much of a hurry as I was, and still had important updates to check on his cell phone as he drove. Regardless, we made it across town in a solid 50 minutes, not bad considering the traffic, and with 25 minutes until departure. I paid with cash and booked it through the airport, cutting the security line as politely as one can, thankful for the fact that nobody was skeptical of my urgency. Running for the last segment, I made it with 10 minutes until boarding, catching my breath with relief. My fellow passengers seemed amused by my crazy mishap that had brought me here.
After a relatively brisk flight to Bishop Billy Airport in Toronto, I took the shuttle to Union Station and made it right on time to catch the final leg of the trip: a train! Complete with wi-fi, food for purchase, and a porter whom I befriended, the sparsely full train was a terrific way to experience the beautiful countryside. In comparison to the endless urban jungle of Southern California, the train offered a spectacular view of green pastures alongside the vast Lake Ontario. The 6:00pm (or should I say 18:00) sunlight could not have made it any more picturesque.
Over the course of today’s journey, I watched Beyond the Lights on my computer, one of last year’s critically acclaimed movies. It’s a great film and had I seen it sooner I would have recommended it more. Essential viewing for anyone interested in media representation of women and non-white individuals, and manages to cover an entire gauntlet of extremely relevant topics all while remaining a powerful love story. I also just watched What Happened Miss Simone? on Netflix and Nina Simone’s music plays a pivotal role in this film so was happy to have context. Both those movie are streaming on Netflix - I highly recommend them.
As I exited the train at 7:30pm I was met by a woman I only recognized by her Hollywood North Film Festival (HNFF) badge. “Are you Nelson?” she asked: this was festival organizer Jacob’s mother! She was here to take me to the opening night.
A common theme from the festival itself begins here – this is a new festival and everyone involved strove to express a strong feeling of community and a welcoming attitude. I was picked up in a 1970 Monte Carlo by Jacob’s mother and a driver, and taken directly over to the Empire Theater where opening night was just beginning. I dropped off my bag behind the counter and was immediately brought in for an interview regarding my film.
I began to meet as many different people as I could, nearly all of whom were from the Bay of Quinte region. Everyone was quite surprised to see that I had made it in all the way from Los Angeles – it’s the other side of a continent after all - after today’s journey I can see how it seems so far. I met another student filmmaker, Nick Roy, who had his film in the festival as well, and we headed inside for the feature.
The opening night film was a Swedish movie called The Philosopher King. I had many critiques of the film but was able to talk through with Nick whom I sat next to. After the film ended, the festival volunteers offered to take me to my accommodations. Two volunteers, both age 18, offered to drive me to my AirBnb. Ironically enough neither were from Belleville so I ended up giving them directions because I had looked it up in anticipation of walking there after the festival.
I met Heidy, my AirBnb host, who rightfully so has immaculate reviews on the website. A Swiss born woman, Heidy has lived in Belleville for 40 years and is retired. She not only has an empty bedroom she uses for AirBnb, but also hosts 2 foster children and 2 adults with mental disabilities. I was greeted with fresh fruit in my room, a cozy bed, and the promise of a hot breakfast in the morning. After a long day of travel, I could hardly ask for more: I made it to Belleville!