Cheskésen

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) is pretty much like any other film festival – a celebration of film that showcases movies from around the globe. However the TFF has only a short, yet interesting history – it was actually started in 2002 by Robert De Niro et al., in response to the World Trade Center attack. Still, what it all boils down to is lots of movies in a short space of time!

Kristy & I have signed up to see a couple of the flicks with Craig & Carrie, the first of which showed yesterday at 3:30pm. We were running a bit late, only picking up our tickets at about 3:20pm (they tell you to get to the cinema at least 15 minutes before the film starts). Then, it was a mad 5 minute dash to get to the actual cinema – but even though we were so late, we still managed to get front row seats!

Anyway, the film – Czech Dream (Cheský sen) – started with an introduction by the producer, who told us to imagine the supermarket of our dreams, to imagine going there on the opening day, and then finding out that the supermarket didn’t exist. Sounded strange, but that was exactly what the film (documentary) was about.

A bunch of film-maker students, with a grant from the government, created a huge marketing campaign for a new hypermarket called “Czech Dream”. They had everything – billboards, radio and TV ad campaigns, and even a catchy song – all in an effort to lure customers to the grand opening on the 31st of May. When the customers arrived though, they found out that there is no hypermarket, no great specails, nothing for sale; the Czech Dream was nothing but an empty promise. It was very interesting to see the reactions of the various “customers” – eveything from the more easy-going who simply laughed, to the bitterly upset who wanted revenge for being fooled.

The four of us though the film was awesome! Some of the interviews they do (especially with the marketing company) were especially interesting, and there were lots of funny moments to keep you amused. If you have an opportunity to see it, I’d highly recommend you take it. gerrod.com rating: 8/10.