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After a ten and a half hour flight from LAX to Heathrow, a six hour stint at the Heathrow airport – where we purchased Jaffa Cakes and European plug adaptors – a short layover to Bologna, a single night at Hotel Port San Mamolo, two trains, and a car, Grace and I arrived in Santarcangelo di Romagna! We'd been traveling for almost three days straight, felt delusionally tired, and desperately needed deodorant... but the show must go on. And by the show, I mean Nòt Film Fest opening night.
After an impressive quick-change, we headed to OltreBorgo, the bar where Nòt's after parties are held each night. We quickly realized that people were going to spend the next couple of hours drinking, smoking, and talking before heading to the official kick-off of the festival – and we hadn't exactly eaten much all day. If you spend anytime at Castelbolognese-Riolo Terme (a train station on the route to Santarcangelo) be warned: unless you want a vending machine sandwich, your only viable option is potato chips.
So, instead of staying for the pre-screening drinks, we walked over to a nearby restaurant, Osteria da Oreste, and had an incredible meal – cheeses, bread, zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, risotto, tortellini, all of the things one might dream of eating when planning a trip to Italy. They paced the food, stretching our meal into a nearly two-hour event that reminded me how lucky I was to be here with people that I genuinely love working with, which is kind of the whole point of Nòt. The town center is walkable, quaint, and filled with restaurants, gelato shops, and bars. It's the perfect host to a film festival that champions slowing down, an unheard-of concept in the world of film, and truly connecting with fellow filmmakers. If you don't travel to Nòt with friends or collaborators you already know, you're sure to leave with some.
It rained on and off during our dinner, leaving the cobble stone streets wet and slick, but not to worry, Grace (who tripped on the way to dinner), assured us all that she could toe-grip the ground through her red-leather flats.
We all safely arrived to the first screening of the night, Micro Budget, a hilarious documentary-style film by writer and director Morgan Evans. The film was a great way to kick off the festival – funny, off-beat, and a masterclass in improvisational humor. In speaking with Evans at the after party, he revealed that every line in the film had an alt, if not ten. Conversations like this made the two hours we spent sitting in front of OtreBorgo slip away quickly. The energy of the evening lacked the sometimes all-consuming pressure to "network" that LA can have – every interaction felt conversational, relaxed, and genuine.
There was only one area in which I felt horribly left out: everyone here smokes. For the first time in my life I felt compelled to grab a cigarette and a glass of white wine. Instead, Grace and I ran (skipped) away for gelato. Officially, we were living the Italian dream.
Around midnight, the CFA team walked back to our hotel (Hotel Della Porta), hands sticky with gelato, feet covered in blisters, and a few new mosquito bites that we wouldn't know about until morning. Night one was wonderful, making 72 hours of travel more than worth it – Our biggest takeaways from opening night?
- Nòt's tagline and arguably their main goal is "MAKE CINEMA INDIE AGAIN!" Something that all of us at CFA can more than get behind.
- Filmmakers are here from all over Europe, the world even, and it's wildly embarrassing that they all speak English. Arguably better than we do.
- While cobblestone is beautiful, and far more aesthetically pleasing than the paved roads of the US, you WILL trip, so just accept it gracefully.
Sometime after 1:00 am I fell asleep easily, praying that I'd wake up having learned Italian through osmosis. Grace didn't sleep at all, something that would make day two a little bit tougher than she was hoping. But that's a tomorrow problem.
