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Summer Snapshot, the elegiac skinny-dipping reminiscence from NW Documentary founder Ian McCluskey, made a hometown appearance tonight in PIFF's "Made in Portland" short-film program. That's not the only place the film has been exhibited this month: It also was one of five American films to screen at the Festival International du Court Métrage à Clermont-Ferrand, the second-largest film festival in France (behind Cannes), and surely the largest-titled film festival in France.
WW talked with McCluskey this week about his French dip.
WW: How was the French festival?
McCluskey: Amazing and kind of overwhelming at the same time. It
was very big: Lots and lots of people from all over Europe. Very international
and not a lot of English [spoken]. Definitely [I] was in the vast minority being one of the
few Americans and English speakers there. So it was kind of cool.
Did you see any particular films that you were delighted with?
There were a lot of films. It
was interesting that the films were from all over the world. In a way the
festival was—a lot of people were comparing it to the Olympics where they were
trying to get as many countries represented as possible. Some of
them were good, some of them were better than others, but there was a really
wide diversity of films and a lot of diversity of styles. From places where you
would never sort of expect to be exposed to a film. Like small islands in the South Pacific, central and South American
countries. India and China I guess participated for the first time this year.
How was Summer Snapshot received?
I think it was received really really well. The interesting thing that we all learned about the French audiences is that they are connoisseurs and absorb their films the way they absorb their meals, which is very very slowly and very thoughtfully. So they sort of clap at the same level for any films, whether they liked it or not at the actual festival. Then they'll go back to a café and sit down for a 3 or 4 hour meal and discuss and figure out what they thought. They don't necessarily jump to an immediate assessment like most Americans. But they really take their time to savor a film. But I did, at one of those cafés, have someone walk up to me and say, "we loved your film, it was so beautiful." So it was really nice to hear that your film's being talked about in a French café.
WWeek 2015