4am JetLag
Thursday, November 1st, 2007
We’re back. To be expected my sleeping schedule is off. With the combination of little sleep, lots of travel and a six hour time difference, it might take me a few days to straighten out. At least I get to experience TWO time changes … one in Germany last weekend and again in the US this coming weekend. As Kasia (our interpreter) says, we are “winning” an hour. I’ll gladly WIN as many hours as necessary!
Each time I grabbed a moment to attempt blogging on the trip I couldn’t manage to match with words the experiences I was having, so I decided to post screen grabs instead. I plan on putting up captions and maybe a few reflective blogs as I unwind out of this unforgettable adventure … also look for English translations from parts of Polish interviews.
I DO want to thank my crew. I’ll never forget the feeling I had the first night we arrived as I settled into my little single mattress with the typical length-wise folded coverlet, no sheets, and big square pillow in Warsaw’s cozy Hostel Helvetia. So far we had managed to get six of us and our ridiculous amount of luggage from New York to Poland, shoot in the airport, get questioned by security in Warsaw, meet up with Maria, our SUPER production manager, just in time to resolve the mix up, keep shooting, get driven to our hostel (and later everywhere else in Poland), get fed at maybe the only vegetarian restaurant in Poland (4 of us vegetarian on the crew), have a production meeting in Polish and English, kick off with a toast “Nostrovia” and get handed the itinerary for the next day.
I nestled (or collapsed) into bed falling asleep with assured thoughts of batteries charging, tapestock labeled, and lenses cleaned. NONE of this could have been so without the incredible crew that has supported this project from the beginning. With each person not only doing their job incredibly well, but also reacting with enthusiasm and interest to what was happening each day was more than I could have asked for. This film has been a collaboration that will reflect each person working on it. I think the pictures (to be posted) reveal how well we all got along … enjoy and thank you all for everything you have given to this production so far.