Le Train de Michel

BIFA has had a great idea in this period of Coronavirus lockdown - they have made all the BIFA nominated and winner shorts over the past 10 years available to view for FREE. How lovely to see BABY and CROCODILE up there and among such an exciting batch of films - great to be able to watch them all.

This year my highlight of the festival was going to NFT1 to listen to an interview with Céline Sciamma, fabulously talented French writer director of Water Lilies, Tomboy, Girlhood (writer of the animated My Life as a Courgette) and in this year’s festival - her period piece Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

I have been thinking about the stigma and the draw surrounding this title. All my feature projects - and I guess my shorts too in terms of “feature status” - are pretty much with first time directors. Sometimes I long to be at the stage where I can be working with more established directors – albeit them also being the first-timers I’m working with, only them (and me) having MADE that first feature!!! –. Get me out of perpetual development please…