DAY 9 - rest and inspiration

I slept through most of the day- which i really needed to do. Then went out for a walk. You can feel the festival winding down. Went to the American Pavilion to check e-mail. I’ve been getting some really inspiring e-mails lately from people all around the world; i don't even know what to say. This project continues to find wonderful people around the world who find inspitation in this concept and in turn inspire the idea further. It's very cyclical, and only time will tell how far this idea will be carried. (i've included excerpts from two particularly inspiring e-mails at the end of this entry).

I talked to two street performers, one was a man from Hungary who balanced two cats on his arms, the other was a French man named Claude who builds those little wire balls that flex- coincidentally, he learned his craft from Ja’s parents (who were gypsies) many years ago. I want to find him tommorow and buy one…

On my way to a party I walked past the red carpet on the Palais and there was a man lying on his back moving like a drunken fish. I realized he was hurt, there was blood coming from his mouth. A few people were trying to help him and I tried to keep his head from hitting the ground. It was very strange, he was trying to catch his breath…it seemed as if someone had just knocked him out. The red carpet security was calling the police and everything was happening in French. When it seemed the situation was somewhat under control, I walked off without speaking to anyone or having any idea what had happened. I wandered to a Mexican Party but didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. The Commander was going to meet me there, but I left and took a long walk by the water. Ate a sandwich on a bench and called it a night before the sun came up.

Excerpts from two e-mails that inspired me today:

"Hi. I am going to send in a small donation through the mail--in cash. I realize that you are probably getting a flood of emails every day and responding to every single one would be tedious but I'm just a kid trying to support a great and interesting cause.

I'd just like to commend all of you for your wonderful work! I've never been this excited about a project from which I'm detached. Sure, I have always admired those who begin projects to improve the world but your idea creates a sense of belonging somehow...I LOVE IT!

Who knows? It could be this generation's "holding hands across the world" movement (if there was a name for that project, it has escaped my memory).

Anyway, I will patiently await your reply. But I will send the cash in an envelope tomorrow morning...I'll just take my chances.

thanks!"

-Karen Leano

and this one from Winnipeg, CANADA:

"First off -- congrats on your success thus far, this is truly an amazing accomplishment for everyone involved. It is inspiring to see a creative and meaningful project of this scope come to fruition. And I dig the idea of collaborative art and uniting people around the world for an important cause-- brilliant.

I'm a filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba and currently work for a film and TV production company (MidCan Productions/Eagle Vision, www.midcan.com www.eaglevision.ca) as a Production Executive/Associate Producer and do everything from producing to post production supervision to script development (with some mook work in between).

I understand you may still need help and 'stuff' and would love to help out in any way, even if it is simply spreading the good word.

I am  interested in raising money for an Executive Producer Credit and want to learn more. Originally, my idea was to help two, inner city, less fortunate children or troubled youths raise enough money so they are the youngest people with Executive Producer credz in the world --credits that they actually earned themselves.

I would take it to the streets, grass roots style, with the kids (preferably a boy and a girl of the same age, with parental permission and accompaniment of course) and go door-to-door and raise the money (in Halloween costumes at least once) while I filmed it on 24P (Panasonic DVX100A).

I believe this would be much more interesting and meaningful than raising the money for myself -- help two kids or one, who have next to nothing be part of something that is helpful, meaningful, and creative -- something they would remember for life and hopefully continue to do.

Of course the kids would have to want to do this and it would be interesting to see what ideas they would come up with to raise money. My other idea was raise the money for my Grandma whose birthday I forgot this year.

I would also think of as many creative ideas as possible to raise money, which I would submit for approval. The strategy would be to target people that are not in the ³loop² and would never find out about the project --older baby boomers and seniors, in order to not take away donations from people that would want their own credit. However, most people would be willing to donate to kid(s)/Nan and would still buy their own credit plus it would spread the word.

If there is anything I could do to help on this project or on Sequels please contact me. I believe this project is exactly what the world needs -- people uniting together for a meaningful cause like, Women's Human Rights and making art. An ongoing project that will hopefully continue to unite and support people; what a positive message and a great story to tell. I¹m certain The 1 Second Film will be a huge hit (well it already is) and it will continue to inspire and motivate artists and people -- it has definitely done this personally. You are doing a great thing.

Keep it honest and real -- best of luck and enjoy the rest of Cannes.

Until later,

Tyson Caron

i can't explain how good it feels to get this kind of support. and with that, i'm gonna get back to work...