Small and inclusive

Locarno's film festival doesn't necessarily have the same clout as say, a Cannes or a Venice or a Berlin. However, it has a reputation as being a more intimate film experience, as evidenced here by the nightly outdoor screenings made available to the locals, tourists, and fellow aficionados.    

Locarno, Switzerland

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Locarno is located on the north shore of Lake Maggiore about an hour and a half north of Milan.

If...

I'm sure most of you have read this Rudyard Kipling poem at one time or another in your life.  I find myself coming back to it every so often and am always impressed by its clarity and depth. First printed in 1909, it truly remains a blueprint for personal integrity and self-development, probably more so today than when it was first written.

Hint:  To be read s-l-o-w-l-y...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Locarno Film Festival

I am fortunate to be asked to be a juror on the Ecumenical Jury for the 61st Locarno Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland in August (6th through the 16th).

This will be a great opportunity to once again share my experiences as a juror for an international film festival.

More on this later.

... to the Emerald Isle

Please excuse my absence

Life has been a bit busy these past few months... as you can see... my wife and I have moved...