This is the first day of NBX, the industry sidebar. I watch "Truth
or Dare" (not the Madonna movie) from BBC Scotland. John Hannah, from
"Four Weddings and a Funeral", stars as the ex-boyfriend you'd
rather forget but still quite fancy - even though he's a psychopath. This
is typically BBC, well-made on a moderate budget, and you are most likely
to see it on a television near you sometime in the next year.
There are no press screenings today, no interviews, and grey clouds. I decide
to pike off down the River Leith to the docklands for a spot of lunch with
my New York friends Alex, Peter, and Angelique. I choose the restaurant,
which is recommended by food critic Egon Ronay whom I trust implicitly,
and order the wine. It is mid-afternoon by the time we dine and it is for
all concerned a budget blowout.
I spy Australian comedienne Judith Lucy dining alone at another table. I
resist the temptation to interrupt her. This is what Edinburgh is like.
People who are household names in one country become anonymous in this place
(unless they are international icons in which case there is nowhere to hide).
I am sure that Lucy is enjoying her anonymity.
We return for veteran actress Theresa Wright's Scene by Scene. Wright takes
us through clips from 'Mr. Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt"' and
offers up endearing anecdotes and insights into her work with William Wyler,
Hitchcock and others.
Next I descend to the NBX opening party where a team of Glaswegians pitch
me their feature, a German reporter tells me of his broken heart, and I
spy an Antipodean (a pretentious way of saying New Zealand or Australian)
producer whose work I am familiar with. On the other hand, I put forward
the when and where did you lose your virginity challenge associating it
with the picturesque deflowering of 'Stealing Beauty'.
The challenge is a great success. I prove my point (which may well be fallacy)
that men recall a good experience while women invariably remember a tragic
one. We proceed to the Channel 4 (Britain's hip young thing/cutting edge
broadcaster - on a good day) party where surprise, surprise, I know the
woman on the door. In case you weren't aware - it is an increasingly small
world.
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