"Don't make eye contact with anyone that looks like they could stuff you into a trunk"- Professor Leeper

mmmm, yes! Words of wisdom for us all! Such were Professor's words to us shortly after arriving at Chicago, where I think we all had a pretty fabulous time.

I'm really glad I went! It was super fun! You guys should think about going next year! As I touched on earlier it really helped me appreciate foreign films more They're not ya know, boring or irrelevant to us as Americans. And I don't even wanna say that they're better than the stuff we got here. They simply deserve respect as the arts they are. Don't be afraid of the subtitles either! You just get used to reading and watching at the same time. After a while you kinda forget you are reading subtitles. Trust me! They are better than English Dubs!! The first feature we watched on Saturday was the Star Talers. A german production made my swedish filmmakers. It was a really good film! The coolest part was hearing the filmmaker, Maria Von Helund, come up and talk after the movie. Wow! What a great model for women in film.

www.imdb.com/name/nm0374842, this is a link to her imdb page.

I think I found her determined but easygoing spirit so attractive. Man, if only I spoke Swedish! I wold love to work on one of her sets one day! Her story was very good too! It was a retelling of the Grimm Bother's fairytale. It is actually a pretty short fairytale. So she had a lot to get to be the feature film length it was. It follows the story of a little girl, Mina, who has to go and petition to the king to free the weavers of her town, among them are her parents. Along the way to the castle she goes out of her way to help others. She is confronts the red hair brute and tells him to give a town its water supply back, she gives away her family's ancestral medallion to help a fisherman catch his fish, and she also gives away her doll, her coat, and her bread to people in need. She also gives her love to a small, loud-mouth dog named Mr. Flix

When I look at this tale I can't help but think of the organization Starlight. Basically what they do is give Kids with brain tumors the opportunity to have a story idea of there into a movie. And professional filmmakers help them do it.

I looked at this young filmmaker, Stephanie and just thought, Wow! You are being a servant! You are using your craft to make something worthwhile, to hear a little six-year old boy say "If you have a brain tumor don't worry because sooner or later you are going to make a movie." If anything else, its amazing! That filmmaker is like the girl from Star Talers. Like we all do, she probably has her own stories that she is dying to tell and yet she still goes out of her way to tell the story of a six year old boy with brain cancer.

And just like Mina who knows where it will lead....