What a Rush!

Chris Hemsworth & Daniel Bruhl in RUSH

Since I heard that this film was being made, I had great expectations.

The Senna documentary stirred up something that most of us had forgotten about the Formula 1: a competition that borderlines the risk of death at every turn.

Still, it’s a documentary, without all the plump of a hollywood blockbuster and even though it was the most successful documentary in the history of the UK box office, still wouldn’t drag the masses to the big screen.

Now RUSH on the other hand, is a sleek shiny glossy Ferrari with a photography that you just don’t see by simply watching the race live on the telly.

Maybe because my expectations were high, the film was a bit slow in the beginning, still it had the rhythm of a winner.

As the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda took the circuits of the Formula 1, nothing could stop the thrill anymore, your heart starts racing just as fast and just in time for the big crash, when it feels like all it’s happening right there, in your face.

Of course, this is film we’re talking about, and no matter how much the camera department whines about it, it’s nothing without sound.

I think the sound design along with Hans Zimmer score worked really well.

This has been Hollywood at its best, in my humble opinion.

Ron Howard nailed it, specially by casting Daniel Bruhl as Lauda.

What a performance! Having pretty face Hemsworth playing the attractive and charming James Hunt, 180 degrees directly opposite to Niki Lauda, just gave emphasis to Bruhl’s immaculate portrayal of the driver’s strict discipline and strive for perfection.

Now go, rush to the cinema!

The ultimate coincidence and the meaning of death

London, Bulgaria

Just over 3 years ago, while walking in London Fields, I saw that one of the trees had flower bunches wrapped around it. A message on the tree was saying that the tree itself was dying because someone was using it as an object to teach dogs how to attack. There were scratches and marks all around the tree and yes, eventually it died.

Another tree was planted right next to what was left of the dead tree. This time a fence was put around it for protection, so it could simply grow safe and sound.

Today, while I was walking with Wolfie, I saw that there were some flower bunches on the new tree, inside of the fence.

I thought to myself: “probably some tree huggers left a remembrance gift for the old tree”… I decided to have a closer look just so I could have a laugh (nothing against tree huggers).

However, as I drew closer, I saw that there were photos of someone. Obviously I decided to go straight to the photos to have a look.

To my utmost surprise, it was the photo of someone I knew. Someone I actually knew.

I cannot describe how surprised I was and what this all means to me. I might be over thinking but there’s so much I’m reading into this coincidence, that could be, perhaps, one of the biggest coincidences of my life.

To start with, it’s some kind of landmark in my life in London. Sorry if this sounds creepy…

In our lives we grow up, we go to school, we make friends, we love, we work, people come, people go, people come back, people die. We are familiar with our neighbourhoods, with our cities, with our way to school or to work. For a long time “life” for me was in Brazil. All big events, friends and memories of familiar situations included sunshine and stuffy air.

A few months after I came to London for the first time, I received the news that someone I knew had died in Brazil. It wasn’t someone I knew very well. It was a friend of a friend whom I had a crush on during a 5-day trip to Porto Alegre. At the age of 20, it was the first young person to die in my circle of friends. I was shocked. My life was still happening in Brazil.

Now my life is in London, it really is. I’ve been through a lot in this city, I made friends, I found work, people came, people went and  now people die: like the boy in the photo.

The boy in the photo was none other than the producer of the first short film I worked on as a runner, in 2009. I never saw him again though I did try to contact him so I could get a DVD copy of the film.

It was his graduation project. I particularly remember him because he looked like a Brazilian cartoon and I also remember teaching him how to say c*** in portuguese.

Staring at the photo, I couldn’t believe what big a coincidence it was so I started looking around at the cards. There was his name as a sad confirmation: “Happy birthday ____ You’re missed everyday.”

It was indeed that boy, that future film producer and he is dead.

In my twisted film-buff-selfish mind, I couldn’t help but recall a quote from one of my favourite films “Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It’s contrast.”

I also remembered that just a few weeks ago I was lost in thought, ruminating on how newspapers write about deceased people: there’s always a parent or relative talking about how amazing the person was and what a brilliant future the person had ahead of him/her. (I concluded they were most probably lying, the dead person was more often an arse but now that he/she’s dead, he/she turns out to be the greatest person the world could ever lose).

So with the film quote and the newspaper blather in my head, I couldn’t help thinking that maybe that boy (and I call him boy because he was 22 when I met him) really had a brilliant future ahead of him, that we probably met at a big moment in his life, where things were only starting to happen. But now he’s dead, for some reason life didn’t happen to him… it happened to me.

I crossed an ocean, leaving all that I knew behind, but in any moment I had any idea that I would get this far, that I actually would end up with so many accomplishments, specially more recently, landing my first job in a big feature film.

And because of this moment in the park today, I can’t help valuing my life more, being even more grateful not only for the good things but also the bad things that help shape my character and my life in London.

I sincerely hope this post doesn’t sound negative as if I would be happy the boy died and I succeeded. Hopefully it will bring… hope. The contrast is there, bringing balance to the world, nothing more, nothing less.

Santa Sacolinha

The Environmental Blog

Faz tempo que eu venho querendo escrever sobre este assunto e muitas vezes pensei em lançar um tweet ou um update no Facebook por que eu achava que era um assunto meio besta.

Porém, depois de ver tantos comentários e reclamações das mais variadas pessoas, eu percebi que precisaria de mais espaço para me manifestar, até por que gostaria de deixar claro que não sou especialista no assunto.

Vou falar das sacolinhas plásticas de supermercado e da agonia que me dá toda vez que vejo mais alguém reclamando do fato que estes mesmos não as oferecem mais gratuitamente.

Eu acho muito engraçado como uma coisinha besta se tornou assunto recorrente no meu mural, mas ao mesmo tempo fico espantada com a situação.

Poxa, Brasileiro já sofre tanto com a corrupção, com a desigualdade social, com um sistema de saúde público precário e agora ainda vão nos negar a sacolinha?

Alguém aí também vê o absurdo? Pois é, classe média sofre!

Depoimento: “Saí cansado do trabalho, e dirigindo pra casa lembrei de passar no supermercado mas esqueci de levar a sacolinha! Putz, tive que pagar R$0,25 por uma sacola que nem da pra por no lixinho do banheiro! Ainda por cima cheguei em casa e a empregada deixou um recado dizendo que eu to devendo a condução.”

Pois é, classe média sofre! 

Tá, eu vou parar de ser irônica por que tem gente que fala essas coisas de maneira séria e pra minha surpresa, são pessoas que eu sempre considerei “engajadas”… politicamente, socialmente etc. e talz.

Bom, como todo mundo sabe eu não vivo no Brasil. Eu vivo em Londres, no Reino Unido, onde a maior parte dos supermercados ainda dão sacolinha de graça.

No entanto, raramente eu ainda pego sacolinha. Na maioria das vezes eu levo pro supermercado a minha mochila, ou se a compra é pequena, coloco tudo na bolsa mesmo.

Os supermercados não precisaram parar de dar sacolinhas para eu mudar minha atitude. Aqui a gente é bombardeado com discurso ambientalista na mídia e o governo te educa e da suporte para você reciclar o máximo possível.

Mas e se não tivesse sido assim? E se tivesse sido como no Brasil? Ou na Belgica? Ou na Italia? Por que em varias cidades desses dois países, os supermercados também pararam de fornecer as sacolinhas.

A diferença, ao que me parece, é que no resto do mundo essa iniciativa não é vista de maneira tão negativa.

Aqui na Inglaterra, vira e mexe o governo fala de banir as sacolinhas e tem gente que não gosta e reclama. Mas estamos falando de um país com propostas reais de reciclagem e muito mais importante que isso, uma cultura/educação ambientalista que se vê e se vive.

Não estou falando de multinacionais, não estou falando no que este país já fez ou já foi. Estou falando do que ele é agora. Também não falo especialmente de políticos, falo do povo em si.

Infelizmente, no Brasil ainda não existe esse tipo de cultura/educação e sabe-se lá quanto tempo ainda vai demorar para que a engrenagem política corrupta permita que a nossa nação prospere moralmente/culturalmente.

Eu acredito nos inúmeros benefícios de não usar a sacola plástica e acredito que a decisão dos supermercados de não mais fornecê-las gratuitamente é um pequeno passo na longa jornada da educação ambiental.

Ouço muito Brasileiro reclamando do Brasil, enfatizando como outros países são mais avançados e e seus povos mais civilizados, muitas vezes por motivos que discordo veementemente.

No entanto, aí esta, mais uma chance de admirar o “estrangeiro”, de seguir o exemplo… e no entanto o que eu encontro?

Só reclamações…

“E os outros tipos de plásticos? E as embalagens?”

A minha pergunta é: a sacolinha plástica equivale a quantos por cento de todo o plástico que entra na casa da família Brasileira? Quem nunca pegou umas sacolinhas a mais, pro lixinho do banheiro por exemplo? Mesmo que seja só 1%, não vale a pena mudar esse hábito? Vale mais a pena ficar reclamando?

Lembrando que quase 1 trilhão de sacolinhas são utilizadas por ano no mundo inteiro. Só 1% desse número acaba sendo reciclado.

“A diferença no meio ambiente é mínima.”

https://i0.wp.com/media.salon.com/2007/08/plastic_bags_are_killing_us.jpg

Será mesmo?

Congo has witnessed major environmental pollution caused by discarded plastic bags which block drainage systems, causing floods and landslides.
– Soa familiar, não?
Nations around the world look at a ban!
Este artigo é de 2004, o Brasil está é atrasado!
For all you hipsters out there…
Portland did it!
Plastic bags are killing us
Plastic bags and floods

Veja bem, eu nao acessei todas as paginas do Google quando procurei “grocery plastic bags”, mas eu posso dizer que maior parte dos sites encontrados dāos bons motivos para reduzir o uso dessas sacolinhas.

“É só mais uma estratégia dos supermercados para ganharem mais dinheiro!”

Sim, de fato. Eu também não acredito que o grupo Pão de Açúcar ia dar ponto sem nó. E eu peço a todos os meus amigos que não colaborem com mais esse plano capitalista.

Na próxima vez que forem ao supermercado, não paguem R$0,25 para o Abilio Diniz!

Por favor, levem sua própria mochila e parem de reclamar!

Obs.: Faz tempo que não escrevo em português. Ainda por cima, saí do Brasil antes do novo tratado ortográfico. Peço desculpas por todos os erros encontrados no texto acima.

This year was about…

Orange RockCorps

Access All Areas - Orange RockCorps @ Wembley Arena

My brush with the music industry.

90.000 phone calls later I fulfilled my dream of working backstage to a massive gig and doing nothing less than artist liaison to Primal Scream.

Fact: P. Diddy earned my respect.

Alpha-ville Festival 2011

Man Bartlett @ Alpha-ville Festival 2011

Thanks to Olivia Bellas (again), I had the opportunity to work in one of the most original festivals happening in London. Digital arts, animation, electronic music and managing just about 30 volunteers. I was sleep-deprived but proud!

Fact #1: I am Jennifer Cardini’s newest fan.

Fact #2: According to Man Barttlet my colour is green!

Scar Tissue

The Paradox Club - Scar Tissue

Back to film, producer Mike Riley from Sterling Pictures (again) asked me to join the crew for this psychological thriller directed by Scott Michell.

Fact: I’m never going to be an extra in a movie again.

Farewell 2011!

My Primal Scream

Bobby Gillespie at the Orange RockCorps concert

We are only half way 2011 but I can already say that doing artist liaison for Primal Scream is one of the highlights of this year.

Though working at the Orange Rockcorps gig was already in my plans, the offer to do artist liaison was unexpected. Of course I couldn’t say no to this. Specially being a Primal Scream fan myself.

I exchanged only a few words with the band members in general, mostly to check if they had everything they needed or to apologize for any delays in the concert.

I did try to convince Andrew Innes to come along to our after party (I was talking to the band crew, when he came along. I think he might not have understood my accent, because he just laughed.)

I literally can’t say much else.

There was a lot of pressure, but it was a great experience and I would most definitely do it again.

Our company is like a (dysfunctional) family

Our company is like a (dysfunctional) family.

In the last century this was a comforting statement to welcome a new employee.

However, now that times have changed and we have learnt to separate our personal life from our professional life, the last thing you want to have is a boss behaving like he’s your father.

We all know there is no perfect family.

This post’s title implies several kinds of work behaviours we (should) have left behind and they all have one thing in common: basing professional actions/decisions in personal opinions and personality traits.

Starting with the hiring process, would you hire someone solely because he/she was lovely during the interview? One would be surprised…

I am not saying one should completely ignore all personality traits. In the end of the day it is always more pleasant to work with a nice person than a ‘moany’ one.

However if the job is being carried out to good standards, would you penalise your employee because he/she has a more difficult personality?

My point is: adaptability. As a freelancer I learnt to leave some personality habits aside and adjust to the company I am working for at the moment.

On top of everything, professional life gets more difficult when you are faced with favouritism, based on affinities instead of performance.

Even when there is mistake after mistake made, you won’t do anything about your member of staff because he’s like a son to you.

All this behaviour leads ultimately to the biggest mistake: taking things personally.

Very often, when you tell an employee or co-worker “you’ve made a mistake“, what they hear is “you’re stupid“. Unfortunately it has nothing to do with hearing problems.

Now that I am about to finish it is hard to believe I felt the need to write a post about this issue considering that the standards of professionalism expected from us are only and constantly getting higher and higher.

Management crisis

Management Crisis

I am always trying to learn how to improve my work by observing my superiors.

Thankfully I can say most of my past managers, in film and events (art & music), have been really inspiring and with them I learnt vital principles about communicating and motivating staff or crew.

I can say they were often fair with impeccable communication skills and amazing oratory. Plain and simple: they knew when and how to speak to any of their employees.

I don’t have the same personality as the above managers, even so, I really strive to absorb all these qualities and apply them to my work.

However, I can’t say the same about the hospitality/catering industry.

As everybody knows I work as waitress to make the ends meet.

With the exception of the manager at the Dorchester Hotel (who was superb), it’s really demotivating to see the level of communication expertise among the hospitality/catering managers I’ve met and worked for.

I have recently worked with one of the most successful events manager, but I genuinely wonder how did he achieve this status! He shouts a lot and swears at staff, he loses his mind over little mistakes or “stupid” questions (stupid according to him of course).

Just the other day, while on training to refresh my waitressing skills, I heard another manager says “I work 12 hours without eating, it’s life, just face it”.

What can I say… It’s true these things happened. It’s true we live in a society where working 70 hours a week makes you a part-timer. But that doesn’t mean it’s right and you can’t expect to motivate your staff by saying that, or expect them to do the same as you.

I will certainly write another post on catering/hospitality. Now time for the weather, Tiffany?

Good news

RockCorps

I am officially with RockCorps until July.

It’s not film related work but I am very I mean, very excited about it.

It’s a project with a brilliant concept and great people attached to it, from all sorts of backgrounds such as film, TV, charity and music. For more information check www.orangerockcorps.co.uk.

The cherry on top is that I get to go to free gigs during the summer and the potential line up is very impressive. I can’t say more than that though

So a little pat on the back for me and if you also want free tickets all you have to do is give 4 hours of your time to one of our projects.

give, get given that’s what they say

Back then

I have just watched The Crucible and rejoiced in the acting of Daniel Day Lewis, Winona Ryder and Joan Allen.

It’s not the first time I watched it but it’s the first time I appreciated it. There are many films I have watched when I was too young to understand them.

Back then, Mortal Kombat was the best movie ever. (By the way I still enjoy Mortal Kombat and I see nothing wrong about enjoying bad movies.)

So I guess it’s time to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey again. Maybe this time I’ll be able to stay awake until the end. (Just like Woody Allen, I’m not afraid to say I still don’t get it.)

 

Today I gave up…

Seriously, I don’t remember ever giving up anything in my life.

I’m not saying I’ve always got or achieved everything I wanted, still I never gave up trying.

Today I did. Kind of…

I need to ask: when you are working for free, only to get experience, on a project that is being leaded by someone who is committing mistake after mistake and shouts at you for nothing, do you carry on doing your work?

You can’t call it work to start with, because you’re not getting paid.

So, do you carry on helping?

I decided I can take on some shit for money but for no money is quite difficult. And I think I did my best, even when I thought I was already being abused I tried to ignore and just carry on.

But I can’t work with someone who does not listen and ends up putting words in my mouth; I can’t work with someone who will throw insults at me when getting upset; I can’t work with someone who will call me in the morning to shout at me for other people’s mistakes (no joke).

I can’t do any of this. Not for expenses only.