Big Sur Shorts Festival – The Screening

Friday, July 25th, 2008
by Zak Forsman

I can’t imagine anything comparing to screening your film on a massive screen tethered between giant trees under the stars in Big Sur at The Henry Miller Library. We made certain to come prepared with sandwiches, hefeweizen, and smores. IFHY was the first short film to play that evening, to a small, but pleasantly engaged crowd. After an introduction by Magnus Toren, I spoke to the audience briefly about how it was made and some of the unconventional methods we employed.

After the credits flashed by and the applause died down, I spoke a bit more with the audience, answering questions ranging from sources of inspiration to camerawork techniques. Many wanted to know what was next, so even Heart of Now came up. This was easily one of the more sophisticated audiences we’ve had the pleasure to screen the film with. One gentleman in particular, Toby, came directly to our table, sang our praises and presented us with glasses and a bottle of a chardonnay. Later that evening Toby invited us up to his place the next morning, and just before leaving Big Sur for LA, we made a little detour up the ridge to visit him. I still have the hand-drawn map he made us. We are so happy to have met him and look forward to visiting again next time we are in Big Sur.

After the other films played, we spent the remaining hours getting drunk on our beer and Toby’s wine, and being entertained by the local stories of Big Sur from Magnus Toren. Talk ran the gamut from film and music to politics, including how Magnus ended up in Big Sur. Magnus invited us all to return for a special event screening of Heart of Now. And we surely will.

Our deepest gratitude goes out to the community of Big Sur and we are so happy to know that IFHY led us down a path toward meeting some kindred spirits that we otherwise would not have known. We’ll see you all again soon!