I am writing a film about cancer, based on a novel by Henk Pröpper. A woman dies of it and leaves a boyfriend behind. That’s quite a challenging premise as it’s too thin for film. At some point today, the thought crossed my mind that maybe I should read Leaving Las Vegas. And The Hours too. […]
more“Sit there. Count your fingers. My unhappy, little girl blue.” When Janice Joplin sings this, you understand she knows what she’s talking about. She has sat there and counted, over and over again. Recently, I stepped into a bookstore which only sells books about self-help and spiritual enlightenment. It smells of incense there and everyone […]
moreHis voice is thinner than it ever was when he asks, “what does he die of?” He uses my hesitation to add, “not of cancer I hope?” He laughs and coughs at the same time, then continues, “although cancer might not be such a bad idea. If you’d like to know more about how chemo […]
moreI sit at the head of what was once my dinner table, opposite the woman who was once my mother- in-law, celebrating the birthday of the man who I was once married to. His sister is there too. Her children. My son so desperately wanted me to come. And so my ex invited me. For […]
moreThe other day, I saw two women I know from the past. We were classmates once. Friends, by circumstance. Girls. I see them now, 25 years later, as our paths cross. We had never expected them to. We stopped being classmates, being girls. And so we stopped being friends. There had been no projection into […]
moreA mother calls me this morning. She has just read a story to our kids’ class. She told them a little bit about America, which is where the writer of the story comes from. She had a towel with her of the American flag. Before I left this morning, I saw how she had draped […]
moreWhite baguette, cheese, chocolate, caramel and a latte. This was my lunch. While in the supermarket a few hours later, my legs went weak, my hands shook and I had to hold on to a rack for fear I would black-out. This event took me back a few years, to New York. I was 24-years-old […]
moreI drive and a car tailgates me. It is a bigger car than mine. Safer. Mine is silver, actually it’s grey. His is gold, actually it’s brown. It annoys me. Why doesn’t he keep his distance? I go faster, he goes faster. I go faster still, he does the same. I give my brakes a […]
more“Brave”. “Touching.” “Impressive.” “Powerful.” It’s always that way. When you least expect it, people react most passionately to something you’ve written. I had coffee this morning with a friend, he said how the piece I had written about my dystonia had stayed with him. And I, in turn, didn’t know how to respond. I felt […]
moreWhat a feeling… I am driving the car and the radio plays that song. I feel like slamming the brakes, jumping out and dancing on the highway. I was really young when this film came out, but the exaltation that final scene gave me is one of the reasons I love film. It’s that unique […]
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