Dear friends,
I’m packing for the San Sebastián Film Festival, and all my trousers have paint on them. It’s been that kind of year. There’s a Reny’s in Camden, fortunately, a sort of discount department store, and I can get a pair of $30 Lee jeans which should do the trick for our European premiere of Shelf Life. Hmm. Seeing that in writing, I should probably do a little research on attire, never having trod the rojo carpets of old Spain.
San Sebastián is one of those fabled film festivals that we never really bother applying to; like Venice or Telluride, it feels like the provenance of movie stars and not scrappy independent documentaries. But sometimes these festivals call you, offer you a plane ticket and a hotel room, and no man in Maine can say no.
Amanda points out that Carhartt is popular in Europe right now, did I notice all those shops in Copenhagen. This would work out well for me. But southern Europe?
Well, needless to say, precious little rides on my fashion decisions. For me, it’s mostly a way of showing some respect to the friendly folks there who have been writing me almost every day in anticipation of the premiere. This particular premiere will be followed by a grand dinner at a Basque culinary center, with all sorts of local cheeses and whatnot, so as my late grandfather would have said, these Spaniards are really putting the dog on. “Time to get gussied up!” he’d always say before shuffling upstairs to throw on a tie before this-or-that grandchild’s high school graduation or wedding.
My suits are mostly from a decade ago, when my brother & his wife worked in Thailand and he would take me to his tailor, Sam, a genial Sikh fellow who would wave off his father’s protestations that such-and-such a shirt would clash would such-and-such a jacket, “Modern style, Dad,” and I had the body of a younger man who did not finish his children’s French fries.
Standing on the red carpet at one of these film festivals is one of the silliest activities that I get to participate in. I don’t have any of these photos framed, but you can find them on the internet and they are pretty funny.
At most of these film festivals, we didn’t have Chat GPT, which when asked in September 2024 suggests the following for my trip from Maine to Spain:
For a premiere at the prestigious San Sebastián Film Festival, you’ll want to strike the right balance between style and comfort, showcasing both your personal taste and respect for the event’s elegance. As a filmmaker from Maine with a unique cheese film, you can add a subtle, creative touch to your outfit while keeping it polished. Consider wearing a tailored suit in a neutral or earth tone, like forest green, which evokes a connection to Maine’s natural landscapes. If you want to add a playful nod to your film’s subject, consider incorporating a small, tasteful cheese-themed accessory - like cufflinks or a pocket square with cheese-themed design. Keep your shoes classic, such as leather oxfords or loafers.
With the plane leaving tomorrow and little time to make a custom green suit or Brie cufflinks, I suppose I was disappointed to not land any suggestions for cheese-related footwear, which is probably my best bet at this 11th hour. Steve Martin had a joke, one of my friend Curt’s favorites, where he said that one of the reasons he was so funny was that every day when he got dressed, he would place a slice of ham in each of his shoes. “That way I just feel funny.”
Another friend of mine, a colleague on this cheese film, says her family has a motto: “Whatever you do, always look good doing it.” I don’t think I’ve ever looked good doing anything, but maybe the spirit of it involves a certain self-confidence that helps you plow on. Yet another friend, remarking once that “brevity if the soul of wit,” and that “briefs” are a name for underwear, decided to wear three pairs of underwear to see if he could summon the maximum wit.
Reviewing my options, and the wisdom of friends and artificial intelligences, I think I’ll rummage through my foreign currency and see how many Euros I can cobble together to buy a T-shirt upon arrival. Buy local! I can justify the paint on my trousers: we are artists! And the slices of American cheese in my shoes? Film festivals are funny business, let us not forget it.
I chuckled 🤭