No room at the inn!

[Mike Shaw]

I thought, booking for BIAFF three months in advance, would be fine.

Not so ... all singles have already gone. (Sob!)

So, unwilling to do the 10-15 minute trek from another hotel several times a day (my knees don't like me walking!), I'm afraid all the people I've promised drinks to 'at BIAFF' will have to wait a year ... Apologies in advance!

[Dave Watterson]

Chesterfield has a good taxi service ... we used it when we were not in the festival hotel last time. You might even find that means less walking than from some of the more distant room in the main hotel! There are also decent b&bs closer than the other hotels.

[Michael Slowe]

Mike, you can't get out of buying those drinks you promised that easily. You don't have to go back several times daily, the main hotel has plenty of facilities and you are quite welcome to use my (single) room as a base. As a serious film maker you have to see the years better films and I look forward to discussing them with you. Anyhow, there might well be a vacancy arising, I've found this in the past.

[Mike Shaw]

That's very kind of you Michael. I've almost resigned myself though to praying and hoping for a cancellation vacancy ...

I say 'almost', because I have put some feelers out to some other 'singles' I know fairly well who may not yet have booked, to see if they would be prepared to go and share: I did that with a 'colleague' on the SERIAC council at the Guernsey one year, and it worked out reasonably well.

I did the two hotel trek at the Tonbridge BIAFF, and even with a base I could use there as well, it is something I wouldn't want to repeat, quite honestly. That was 6 years ago - I'm now in my 80s and its beginning to tell on the old bones ...

[Willy]

It's a pity that you will not be able to attend BIAFF, Mike, but I understand... The old bones! I am surprised to hear that you are in your eighties. You look 20 years younger. Don't blush again. I think that a name like Mike or Michael guarantees to stay young and energetic.

Dave is right. There are good B&B's in Chesterfield. I booked accommodation at Abigails. You can find it on internet. £55 for a room, a super English breakfast included. The British B&B's are the best in the world! The reviews of Abigails are very positive. This house is in the outskirts of Chesterfield. It's about 1 mile from the Chesterfield Hotel. And yes, me too, I have big problems with my bones... My knees are "worn out"... and now I have a torn Achilles tendon ... and I suffer from this and from that...
I am always moaning also because I fear that one day I won't be able to do camera work again.
Dave, who's my age, has already called me the Sick Man of Europe.

Each time I will go to the hotel by car. I can't walk anymore. Let's hope there is enough space to park my car at the hotel.
I already attended BIAFF at Chesterfield, but that was some years ago. I don't remember everything anymore.

Each time I attend BIAFF I look for a good B&B. In Buxton, Harrogate, Weymouth, Norwich, etc... The experience has always been very positive. There is only one thing. It's better not to drink too much at the Gala dinner, but I am not a heavy drinker. Anyway I will miss your drink, Mike.

[Mike Shaw]

Yay! As Michael predicted would happen, I'm in!

So now its doubles all round!



Mike
One very happy bunny

[TimStannard]

Yay!

Yay? YAY? Mike, you're old enough to be my father but using the language of my eight year old!

Proof, as if any was needed, that you're only as old as you feel - or speak.

Glad you get to go.

[Mike Shaw]

I get it from the grandchildren...

{That's what they told me I should say, anyway)

[Brian Saberton]

So the gang will all be there - can't wait!!

[Mike Shaw]

Looks like its going to be a big round ... I'd better bring both bags of 5p pieces ...

[Willy]

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend BIAFF in Chesterfield! I had to cancel it because of health problems. My friend who would accompany me has serious health problems, but I am also "fighting" against... Health is the most important thing in life. I had already booked accommodation in Chesterfield (3 nights) and in Kent (2 nights). Luckily the B&B's don't charge us. We will miss BIAFF. I will miss you, forum-friends!

[Dave Watterson]

We will all miss you, Willy. You have been a feature of BIAFFs for many years. Everyone knows the Belgian who loves Britain! More to the point everyone admires your work.

Look after yourself and get well. Next year's BIAFF will be in Bedford which is, at least, a little closer to Belgium.

Perhaps Mike will let us raise that glass of diluted orange juice he is buying us to you and Vera.

[Mike Shaw]

Willy, this is sad news indeed - but health must come first and foremost. Get well and fit again and we can look forward to meeting at a later date...

Dave - so, you're now on the strong stuff I see. Ah well ... we shall raise our glasses and wish Willy a speedy recovery and return to full health

[Michael Slowe]

Thanks to the big man re setting my password (which inexplicably was refused three times!), I can join you all in wishing Willy a speedy return to robust health and to say how much I'll miss talking to him.

I was also trying to agree with Dave when he voiced concerns about the BIAFF Sunday programmes. Some of the category winners do not always provide films as good as others which have to be excluded from the big shows and these shows should be THE showcase for BIAFF and the IAC. In fact, last year I thought that some films included on the Sunday were not always better than some I'd seen in the smaller cinemas. I think that this may need some more thought and, who knows, our esteemed competition chief may be thinking about this even as we speak (write).

[Ian Woodward]

This is a message for Willy.

I’ve never met you, Willy, but being a great admirer of your many interesting and thought-provoking contributions to the IAC forums, I feel I know you. When you write, it’s patently clear that you’re wearing your heart on your sleeve. It suits you!

Bit by bit we get to know you. For this reason, you are the backbone of the IAC.

Your contributions are always of particular interest to the writer of this thread because what comes across loud and clear in your thoughts, observations and conclusions is that, like me, you went into film-making not to become a technical wizard but because of the unique way it allowed for the expression of utter, mind-blowing creativity.

And I suspect – again, like me – that, initially, it wasn’t the technical side of filming that appealed to you as much as the joyously irresistible fact that, like painting or composing or authorship, making a movie is one of life’s few pursuits of self-expression where the end result can truly be said to reflect “who you are...who we are”.

I seem to know who you are.

All this is a round-about way of saying, “Get well soon, Willy...and please, please keep your thoughts flowing!”

Ian Woodward