In part as a matter of convenience for FIAF Congress attendees, the third Nitrate Picture Show was scheduled right on the heels of FIAF L.A., so after a very brief return to New Haven, allowing enough time to surprise the girls and take Lucy to school, I headed to Rochester. Nothing like a six hour flight followed by a six hour drive to get you ready to…sit in a cinema all weekend.
The festival was excellent as ever, with some great films I’d seen, seen anew (ANCHORS AWEIGH, NIGHT AND THE CITY), some surprising revelations (THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER), and one or two miraculous screenings—first, Ozu’s EARLY SUMMER, which was absolutely luminous, and IN A ROMAN GARDEN, which wasn’t much of a film, but was screened on a 104-year-old print, which almost brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
It wouldn’t have been a trip to Rochester without a few stops at Wegman’s, lunch at Sticky Lips, and my favorite Airbnb off Park Ave. The NPS has quickly become an integral part of the film archive festival scene, and I look forward to returning again next year.