The Redhead Days
It’s taken me a while to get around to writing up a proper review of The Redhead Days. It was such an emotional weekend for me I’m having a hard time recalling everything that happened.
Friday night was the big kickoff party, and it was great to catch up with so many of the people I met last year. Truth be told I remember very little of it because I was so nervous about the screening on Saturday.
The screening was a 13:30, and while many people the night before told me they’d come, I wasn’t sure if they would actually make it. I showed up at the cinema just before noon, when I was told the ticket office would be open, and to my pleasant surprise there were about 15 people waiting for someone to unlock the doors. But when they finally opened, it was only to let people into the casino, no one from the actual cinema was there. I waited around to talk to people and reassure them that the ticket window would eventually open but secretly I was freaking out. A few of them left and I didn’t know if they’d come back, I also had no idea when the box office would actually open.
At 12:30 the projectionist arrived and we tested the Bluray in the cinema. When I came back out, the ticket window wasn’t open but there was still a small crowd of people waiting for a ticket. Not to get a big head about it, but it reminded me of waiting in line for hours for a ticket to see Star Wars Episode I. (It’s weird enough to think that anyone would want to see my film, but for people to be willing to wait that long to make sure they got in was just amazing.)
I had some things to take care of and when I came back, at around 13:15, the ticket window was finally open, and the queue went out the building. I was overwhelmed. We ended up having to start the screening 20 minutes late to make sure that everyone got in.
I was so nervous, but as soon as it started the laughs came. My co-editor and I had put so much work into the film’s first four minutes to set everything up and it was a total relief to hear all the laughter. I sat in the back of the crowd and just cried tears of joy throughout the entire screening.
At the end, when the first title card came up, the audience erupted in cheers. I noticed a number of people immediately stood in applause, but then they sat back down because I loaded the credits with extra clips (something the head of my film school in Scotland told me was a mistake, and at least for that screening I wish I’d listened to her.) When the film was finished for real I went down to the front and walked off to the side to take the microphone from the stand while the audience continued to cheer, and when I turned back around to face them, they were giving me a standing ovation. I was in awe.
I spoke for about 20 minutes and then we had to leave. Outside after the screening many people came up to thank me for making the film and to get their picture taken with me. They were thanking me and I didn’t know what to say because I wanted to thank each and every one of them for coming.
Here’s a four minute video I made to show the audience’s reaction:
After that I got ready for the pub crawl which had been so memorable the year before.
On the crawl with two people from my group the year before, I hadn’t actually spoken to them last year but after seeing the film they understood why.
Plenty of non-redheads at the festival. These two were at the screening and I enjoyed talking about the film with them over the course of the crawl.
I made it home on Saturday night at a respectable hour. On Sunday at noon we gathered for the big photograph which saw 1672 redheads break the world record for the most redheads in one place at one time.
After the photo there was a second screening of the film, which went just as well as the first. When it was all said and done I went for a walk through the town talking to lots of different people. Thankfully I managed to stop at two of the photo booths I went to last year.
All-in-all the strangest part of the whole experience was suddenly finding myself some sort of celebrity. I was with two friends looking for a place to have a drink on Sunday night, and as we walked through the cafes you could hear people whisper, “That’s Scott Harris.” I don’t know that I could ever get used to that.
And in the evening we went out to the camp site to have a few last drinks.
While the screenings obviously had a major impact on me personally, aside from that, the highlight was just spending time talk to people from all over the world. Going to dinner with a Canadian, two Israelis, two Norwegians, and two Dutch women. As it is with every one of these events, our hair eventually becomes unimportant, and its really just about making new friendships with some amazing people.
Next year, the main event will take place on September 7th, which will be my 34th birthday. I can’t imagine a better place to celebrate it. (And I was asked to be a model in next year’s fashion show.)
2 Comments
As you know i had my ticket bought in advanced even, as i really did not want to miss it… Nice to read you! I def want to meet you too next year!
i guess its iphone s fault!
Ps some pics are upsidedown
Scott,
We had a brief exchange after the screening, while still in the screening room; I was the redheaded guy — oh, wait. I was the redheaded guy in the audience. With the shades on his head.
In the course of the conversation, you conceded that maybe your sense of isolation couldn’t be pinned definitively on being ginger. I think that was a premature surrender of the point, and nobody can deny that you’re onto something real and prevalent.
Apart from the bit of teasing I alluded to verbally, I’ve always enjoyed being a redhead and the mostly positive attention I’ve enjoyed. Through all that attention, I came to a very early conclusion that I was fundamentally different from those around me.
That’s what I’m (laboriously) getting to, here. Being ginger is a thorough presoak to the deluge of separateness many of us come to know and manage. The circumstances which effect it are as varied and numerous as we redheads, ourselves. Whatever the trigger may be, we’re already wired to stand apart, and to incorporate (more or less) our ginger state into the explanation of why we’re now “outside the circle.” You could argue it’s not the healthiest approach, but standing apart is not a “stretch” for a ginger kid.
Getting back to your film, what I heard from the audience were refinements and examples of the film’s theme, and nothing in contradiction. I’ll wager every redhead understands and identifies with what you’ve related.
I’m looking forward to your next film. Attending the opening will be an enticement to visit the festival (Portland, Crosshaven, or Breda) you choose for the debut.
Best regards,
Dan