World Premieres, Berlin, Film Festivals

Hey Everyone!

Just got back from a whirlwind trip to Berlinale Film Festival, where we had our world premiere of the Space Cadet animated feature!

It was the loveliest time! Stoked to have been able to share the finished film with an audience of filmgoers of all ages at the festival!

The day we arrived, there was a welcome gala/opening ceremony of the festival at the Berlinale Palast.

Here we are walking to the opening event. clockwise from left: Production Designer: Lillian Chan, Producers: Ginette Petit and Nathalie Bissonnette from Outsiders Films, Art Director: Corinne Merrell and yours truly holding the phone! I believe that's snow and not dandruff in my hair.

The opening gala was complete with a red carpet reception and 130 bpm dance music playing over the speakers. The energy was high and there were a few hundred film fans gathered by the barrier hoping to get a glimpse of some Hollywood stars. When it was our turn to walk in front of the bank of photographers they all had this confused "Who are they?" look on their faces. LOOOOL!

For fans of Squid Game AND Döners, I found you a spot!

While we were in Berlin, we also celebrated Ginette's birthday. She is the producer of the film and was the one who had the vision to develop the Space Cadet book and soundtrack into an actual feature length film. She had optioned the rights to the book to turn it into a film 14 years ago! She did so right after she saw our Space Cadet Headphone Concert around the time of the book launch. Since then, she has been working tirelessly to find the partners, funding and assembling a team to make this film a reality. This trip felt like a big birthday present for everyone!

The crew spent the night before the premiere packing some Space Cadet tote bags that we would gift to the audience. It included postcards, stickers and tattoos we had custom made to celebrate the premiere.

check it out!

The World Premiere was at the HKW (Haus der Kulturen der Welt) which translates to House of World Cultures. It's a beautiful 1000 seat venue and full of people of all ages. It was a joy to hear all the laughter from the children, parents and grandparents during the film.

After the screening there was a Q&A session with the audience. The questions were prepared by school children in attendance at the premiere. A combination of insightful, philosophical and cute questions about the characters and story!

What was in the carton that the Robot was drinking?  a: ROBO CHA a good drink for his circuits.

What was the strange liquid that Celeste extracted from the plant?  a: an extraterrestrial plant sap that would harden like super glue.

How much did this movie cost to make?  a: I don't know, that's a question for the producer!

There was even a review in La Presse which you can read here.

I also spent a couple of days doing interviews about the film with various TV, radio and print publications in Europe. There was a special lunch where we met other filmmakers and crews near the EFM (European Film Market) where the sales agents for the films are gathering to organize distribution of the films in different territories.

There was a photographer taking polaroids of the different crews there. At the festival, they adjusted the title to Robot, Celeste & das All. Which I believe translates to Robot, Celeste and the Universe.

I saw this old school film projector in a mall!

And on the topic of films from yesteryear I saw this poster for a live-scored Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin. A film that is a huge inspiration to me and one of the reasons I even wanted to get into making stuff. One of my favorite childhood memories was watching this film with my parents and grandmother when I was a kid! I never heard my grandmother laugh that hard at anything!

Our schedule wouldn't allow me to attend this live-scored version of the film. But I'm so glad it's happening and I will definitely keep an eye out for it! That film is one of the main reasons why Nufonia Must Fall, The Storyville Mosquito, and Space Cadet are stories told without dialogue.

We had 4 more screenings and Q&As the rest of the week. Each theatre had amazing sound and it was nice to see how the film played in different types of theaters like the very luxurious Zoo Palast...

and the funky arthouse cinema Filmtheatre am Friedrichshain,

I also got to visit my favorite music shop in Berlin called Musikinstrumente and Design. Which is like a flea market of sound making devices! The owner of the shop is a rad dude named Andre. We nerded out about harmonicas, tape delays and his days playing in a Krautrock Band when he was younger. He liked the fact that the movie I was in town premiering had a robot in it! LOL

 Anyhow! I had a wonderful time in Berlin!

Shout out to the whole team and these 2 amazing ladies who worked so hard to make this film what it is (L-R: Lillian Chan head of story and production design and Corinne Merrell art direction...

 Hope to see you soon at the next film festival and the eventual theatrical release (TBA).

In the meantime here's a still from the movie:

Can't wait for you all to see it!

Thank you for your support!

e