Robin and I screened the rough cut tonight for the lead actors. Despite the edits we've made in the first section, I still feel as if the film isn't working well until the honeymoon begins, half an hour into the story. There are two early phone conversation scenes that we've been allowing to unfold at a leisurely pace--I think it's time for us to start whacking away at them.
Edith and Dylan were understandably squeamish about seeing themselves simulating sex at great length. They had a few reservations about the film, some of which synched up with my own reservations and made me uneasy. And my uneasiness fed back into their uneasiness. We're all feeling pretty vulnerable at this stage, unusually susceptible to the opinions of others.
After the screening, Robin made a tape for me to send off to the Rotterdam film festival tomorrow. I'm not really sure what festival strategy we should be pursuing, but I figure we might as well try to get into the major shindigs while we're waiting for a plan.
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