Two and a half nods better than a slap in the face with a wet kipper for Burmese Dreaming.

So, the buzz on Burmese Dreaming … nope, it wasn’t just one of those weeks but instead it was one of those other weeks, the better ones which don’t leave you wandering around wondering where the heck it is all heading, if it’s in fact heading anywhere, and whether or not ‘anywhere’ is where you wanted it to be heading anyway. No, not one of those weeks. Instead, it was a week with two and a half yes’ which is a lot in the life of Burmese Dreaming where a yes of one sort or another seems to come about every six months. So a downpour of affirmation, all things being relative. Anyway, first drops dripped down early in the week with Burmese Dreaming being accepted for Showcase screening at the Lucerne (Switzerland) International Film Festival. What’s a Showcase – erm, yes, that’s where the public queuing in the auditorium can see your film whilst they are waiting to get into the film they actually want to see and then, if they want, when they have finished with that film, they can look you up in the catalogue and watch your film in a private viewing room (sounds sordid). Anyway, that was the half a nod which is, no doubt, better than that wet kipper being slapped around your chops. BUt then more. Later in the week, the Emerge festival in Victoria, Australia said yes to Burmese Dreaming screening there next year in June. The home town might love me a little bit after all! Then, finally, on Friday and to cap it all off, Burmese Dreaming was accepted for screening at the Diaspora Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, where it will be screened as part of a ‘special’ evening along with another documentary focusing on Burma. Rockin’ good news. And lets stick with that, otherwise missives will degenerate into “Good God, why the hell can’t I get this film project up on my computer anymore. Awesome, there it is. And now why won’t it export. How can I even take myself seriously?” Or we could get into discussing the prohibitive costs of producing master tapes for cinema screening, apparently a process which is going to take less than an hour and about $200 of stock is going to cost $6,000 as a starting price, going up in increments of pounds of flesh. “Hey-multi-mogul-film-industry-mega-dollar-sods-who-bill-at-ridiculous-rates, no there is no Burmese Dreaming Metro Goldwyn Mayer credit and thank you for being so helpful to the independent film maker. Sadly, this state of affairs may well mean that Burmese Dreaming will not have its Australian debut screening in Greater Union cinemas in Sydney in November. Damn shame but overall, minor hiccups in an otherwise happy week for Burmese Dreaming. Peace, Timothy