Keeping up with Alinette

Internship, Christmas and New Year

2012-01-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

After a frantic Cambridge Film Festival, I started a programming internship with City Screen (Picturehouses) in Soho, London. The commute was really tiring but worth the effort as I learned quite a lot about film distribution and commercial exhibition. I've also enjoyed meeting and getting to know the programmers of the company, with whom I continue to stay in touch. The internship was also a fantastic networking opportunity during which I had the chance to collaborate with all the major UK film distributors.

In November I went to pay a brief visit to my grandmother in Limoges with Axel. It was the first time for him to meet my mother's side of the family. We only stayed for a weekend but it was good to see my grandma, my uncles and aunts, and my parents who flew from Corsica for the occasion.

I had the opportunity to see my parents again in December while attending the Festival du Film Anglais et Irlandais in Ajaccio. The festival committee graciously invited me to be a member of their professional jury panel.

Axel and I spent Christmas in Oldenburg again. This time however, we stayed for a whole week - as opposed to a weekend last year. It was lovely to spend some time there, visit with Axel's parents and grandmother and go shopping with Axel's brother Felix and Felix's girlfriend Andrea. Oldenburg is wonderful for shopping. The old center is filled with little boutiques. We bought clothes, shoes, socks and chocolate - the essentials really :)

While Axel was heading back to Cambridge after Christmas, I took a flight to Stockholm to visit my former roommate Dina. On the first day Dina enthusiastically proceeded to take me to all of her favorite places in the city, including favorite bookstore, clothes/home interior store, cafes and restaurants. I loved it! The city is absolutely beautiful and, although Dina kept repeating how much more beautiful it is in the Spring, I found a certain charm in the crispness of the air, the seemingly never-ending dawn, and the warmth of the cafes filled with people.

Italy, Cannes, and Corsica

2011-10-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Spring in Italy was absolutely fantastic. I had such a lovely time meeting and getting to know Lucia, Axel's best friend. She's from the beautiful region of Bologna. Axel and her gave me a few private guided tours of the city, which I enjoyed greatly. Bellow are some of my favorite places. Actually, the last picture was taken in Ravenna. This fascinating city holds some of the oldest christian mosaics in Europe. They are incredibly well preserved.

In May, I popped in Cannes for a few days to attend the film festival. I will never forget that Sunday when I watched MELANCHOLIA and THE TREE OF LIFE back to back. It was incredible!

Then in August, Axel and I spent 10 days in Corsica visiting my family. Unfortunately, because of the upcoming Cambridge Film Festival, I had to do a few hours of work while being there. Our stay was nevertheless enjoyable, filled with lots of sun-bathing days on the beach, a boat trip to the Scandola Nature Reserve (we got soaked on the boat, it was really funny), and a visit to my brother Christophe in Porto-Vecchio.

Life Update

2011-04-02T05:28:00.001-07:00

Gosh! It's been a while...

I thought after finishing my master's last year I would have more time in my life. HA! What a fool I was. Life gets busier and busier. So here is a quick overview of what I have been up to since graduation:

Late August 2010: Trip to Corsica to visit my parents. This was super great as I really needed a relaxing break after the crazy thesis write up. Axel, my boyfriend, came to visit for the first part of my holiday and my good college friend Valérie came for the second part.

September 2010: Moved in with Becka and interned with the Cambridge Film Festival. Got a front of house job at the cinema hosting the festival, the Arts Picturehouse. In the end, I decided not to go for the Super 8 wedding business. I will occasionally film friends' weddings on Super 8 but I prefer to keep it as a hobby.

November 2010: Trip to Berlin with Axel. Also started French tutoring a young English girl once a week. I always liked teaching French as many of you know :)

December 2010: Trip to Oldenburg to spend Christmas with Axel's family. Really nice holiday! We also spent a couple days in Hamburg to visit my friends Conny and Armando and meet their little girl Sophia.

January: The Cambridge Film Trust offered me the job of submissions coordinator and programmer for the 2011 Cambridge Film Festival.

February: I participate in a script development workshop called BABYLON EUROPE, which took place in Rotterdam during the international film festival. Absolutely loved it!

The same month I also went to Clermont-Ferrand to represent the Cambridge Film Festival at the international short film festival. Since I am in charge of programming the short film programmes for the festival, I wanted to get a sense of what short films had been made in 2010. It was amazing! I got to watch approximately 100 short films from all other the world.

March: I started writing my first fiction feature screenplay (which will probably take years to finish but what the heck) and participated in a 'script reading' workshop in London. I had to cut down my hours working front of house at the cinema as my hours working for the Cambridge Film Festival increased. I really love programming for the festival.

April: Thankfully, Cambridge is a bit warmer these days and we are finally seeing the trees blooming. This town is so pretty in the Spring! The lovely weather is bringing more visitors of course. My good friend Galen came to stay with us for a couple of days and my cousin Antonin paid us a little visit with his girlfriend. It was great to see the three of them here. I hope more friends and family will come to visit us.

In a few weeks, it will be our turn to visit friends and family. Axel and I bought flight tickets to Bologna where we will be visiting Axel's best friend Lucia. We will also visit my dad's cousin in Florence. More on this in my next post...

Graduation and all...

2010-08-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

So I now officially hold a master in philosophy. Sounds quite pompous, doesn't it? :)

Life is good here in Cambridge, UK. July was quite an eventful month, as I had the visit of my mom, graduated, moved out of my college accommodation, visited Ireland and spent quite a bit of time hunting jobs as well as a new place to live.

Graduation was great and I am glad my mom could make it! We went punting on the Cam and walked to Grandchester, a small village near Cambridge. My mom was only here for 4 days so it went quite fast. She helped me pack all my stuff and move everything out of my room. It took us a whole day!!

I was greatly blessed to find another place to live. I am going to share a house with Rebekah Beavers, a single girl from my ward. She is a chemist but she also does wedding photography on the side, which is really good for me since I want to start a wedding Super 8 film business. I can tag along with her for weddings :)

The job hunt hasn't been really successful so far but I also realize that the summer is not the best of time to find a job. I still have this work placement in London in September and I look forward to doing that. I hope the Lord will continue to bless me with my decision to stay in Cambridge and that I will find a job soon.

Ireland was a lot of fun. It is such a beautiful country! I love that I can fly there for cheap from Cambridge. I got to visit my friend Michelle Fagan, a girl I had met at the YSA convention in March. We went to visit Newgrange, a Neolithic burial site located about 30mn north of Dublin. It was absolutely amazing!

The end...finally!

2010-06-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Gosh! I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote and in the same time I can believe how fast this last term went by. The only reason I can think of is that I have been insanely busy...actually, I don't think I have been that intensely engaged in studying since my mission! Before I start with the big news I have to back track a bit to the beginning of this last term.

I ended Lent term towards the end of March and was quite happy with my first essay on Tati's Mon Oncle but not so much with my second essay on the film adaptation of Un Homme qui dort. However I was pleasantly surprised to get a high pass on the later, which was such a relief! My Tati essay got a distinction, which made me REALLY happy!!!

After my little escape to Dublin (see previous post), I started working on my dissertation. I was also busy helping out with the organization of a local film festival and with the production of my documentary. April was actually insane, so insane in fact that I got sick by the end of the month. My body felt broken from exhaustion. I thought to myself that if I wanted to finish my dissertation and still be alive by the end of June, something needed to go. So I decided to suspend the documentary production for May and concentrate solely on my dissertation. However I did take a break - which was sooooooo needed - to attend another YSA convention in Bristol this time, right after which I went to France to visit my grandmother in Limoges. I got to see my parents there as well as my uncles and cousins. It was fabulous to see my family and I really needed all the love and support I could store for what was ahead of me.

The last three weeks of May I literally spent in the library and in my room writing an average of 10 hours/day. The last 10 days I would wake up at 4am write until 12.30, take a short break to eat lunch at the college cafeteria and return to writing until 7pm. Then after a light dinner (I was so stressed that I couldn't eat much, I think I lost like 5 kg) I would go to bed around 9pm to wake up the next day at 4am. I would hardly sleep because I was still writing my dissertation in my head. It was pretty awful :( If it weren't for everyone's prayers on my behalf and my own prayers I really don't think I could have made it through. This is seriously the most brutal experience I went through since the first 2 or 3 months of my mission, when I struggled so much with English and my inability to understand and speak. I remember praying and studying soooooo hard to make progress, to the point of exhaustion. Well, writing my dissertation felt the same. I really feel like I have surpassed my capacities through some sort of a miracle, just like when I finally learned to speak English. I have such a testimony of the power of prayers!

Anyway, so the big news is that I ended in a 12, 400 word dissertation last friday and that I am now done with my Master's degree at Cambridge University. I should be graduating on July 17th and move out of Cambridge shortly after. I have to wait until early July to find out the mark on my dissertation and will make sure to let you all know :)

Oh, I forgot. In the mist of all this craziness, I also had my birthday on May 18th.

Service Project "Helping Hands" in Bristol

Rafii, Hugh, Rianne, Mosiah and I

Grandma and I

Dad, mom and I

Birthday girl :)

End of term and Irish weekender

2010-03-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaaahhh, finally done with my two essays. What a nice feeling! I thought I would die last week, but no, I made it through and turned in both essays by 12 noon last wednesday. To celebrate my victory over academic tyranny, I went to Ireland for the weekend to participate in a YSA convention in Dublin, which was loads of fun!!!

Here is a sneak-pick of my weekend:

Nice meal on friday night

Service project on saturday morning

Emma, me and Brady: we were representing the Cambridge ward :)

sheep on the grounds of the adventure park

Rafii, me and Mosiah ready to climb

Learning Irish dancing on saturday night

Howth on monday morning

Seals in the harbor of Howth

Us feeding the seals :)

Beautiful Howth

Emma, me and Rianne

My Christmas and New Year's Eve

2010-01-01T07:09:00.001-08:00

So for the first time in 9 years, I spent Christmas outside Utah. Pretty crazy, huh? I hardly believe it myself. Two Christmases on my mission in Temple Square and seven Christmases in Orem with the Ott family. But London is not the worst place to spend Christmas and that is where I indeed spent Christmas this past year. However, it doesn't replace the dear company of my American family. I've missed them dearly.

A few days before Christmas, I arrived in London, where I stayed in a small flat near Ladbroke Grove. The flat is rented by Alice's friend, who was out of town for the Holidays (back in the US actually) and whose cat I and Alice were to babysit. Alice arrived from Paris the following day and thus our adventures in London began.

The first day together we explored the quarter of Notting Hill and Portabello Road.

Oh, I forgot! The first day I was by myself so I went to the National Gallery. I had rented the audio headset so I learned a lot about the paintings exposed there. It was fantastic! I wish I could upload an image of each of the paintings I liked most but I'm afraid that would take way to much space. Perhaps I'll do that on a separate post.

Trafalgar Square

On Christmas Eve, Alice and I went to a Christmas Carol service at St Martin in the Fields and that was definitely one of the highlights of my Christmas. I felt the spirit of Christmas so strongly as the choir sang a beautiful Christmas hymn and lit the candles in the church. The whole time, even when I was singing myself, I had tears in my eyes cause my heart was so full. I am truly grateful for the birth of my Savior.

After the service, we headed for Westminster Abbey to get in the queue for the midnight mass. Gosh, it was so cold!!! We stood in line for hours. At some point, I had to go fetch some hot chocolate because I really thought we would freeze to death :) Thankfully, we met with a really nice couple from the states and our lively conversation kept us going and time passed by more quickly. The wait was worth it cause we got amazing seats, right in the front. The ceremony was impressive, definitely enhanced by the grandeur of the building itself. I watched with interest the rituals but did not feel as moved as in the previous service at St Martin.

On Christmas day, Alice cooked an amazing dinner and we ate like queens! Then we watched several movies, included "Young Victoria", which I really liked.

The next day we went to the German Christmas market at Hyde Park. What a magical place! First of all, Hyde Park is such a peaceful, enchanting place with its tall trees and with its pond and ducks. And the market was so fun and delicious (lots of sausages, fries and candies).

Of course we got to do a little shopping as well (you know me). I got to visit Harrods -- I say visit cause there is no way I can buy anything in there: way too expensive for my pocket, even with sale!

Among others things Alice and I did, we also went to the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. I especially enjoyed the dinosaurs exhibition in the Natural History Museum (that's the kid in me) and the fashion and jewelry exhibitions in the Victoria and Albert Museum :)

After a few days back in Cambridge, I took the train back to London to spend New Year's Eve with my ward friend Emma and Alice (who was still in London). We went to a YSA dance in the Hyde Park chapel and it was a lot of fun! The highlight of the evening was to see my friend Gab, who I hadn't seen since I've left Provo!!

Gab, me, Alice, Gab's sister, Emma

We had such an adventure that night!!! Close to midnight, we tried to go up on the roof of the chapel to see the fireworks but we weren't allowed to do so. So we ran outside, down the empty streets, to find a building tall enough where we could watch them from. We looked like a bunch of crazy people, seriously! Suddenly Emma spotted one building and we ran inside (the door was opened, weird). It was an office building. We took the elevator up to the very top but we couldn't get outside on the roof, so we found a large window (sort of high above the stairs) to watch the fireworks from.

We had so much fun climbing up there and watching the whole city light up.
But the funniest part was when we went back down after the display, and found the door locked!! We looked everywhere to see if there was any other exit but unsuccessfully. Gab and his sister were starting to panic cause they had to catch a flight at 6am. As for me, I was having a blast :) It was just too cool! Finally, we went back to the main lobby and, once there, we spotted through the large windows a night guard walking outside . I ran up to the windows and started knocking frantically on one of them so he could see us. I realized how much I was anxious to get out, after all :) The guard was super nice. He didn't even ask us what we were doing in the building, he just said 'Happy New Year' and let us out!

Writing hard

2009-11-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

So it's 2:30 am and I am finally going to sleep after spending a ridiculous amount of time in my college library writing. And look at me now, still writing on my blog. I am crazy! It must be the after effect of my over heated brain. Anyway, for the subject of my core course essay (the one for which I'm spending countless hours in the library) I chose to write about two documentary films made during the time of Nazi Germany. They were both made by the same woman filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. She was quite a fascinating character (hint that you should Wikipedia her). She was also a brilliant filmmaker and thus brilliantly portrayed the National Socialist party in her documentary Triumph of the Will, which caused her to be accused of Nazi propaganda. I am writing about this particular film and also another one she made a couple years later documenting the Berlin Olympic Games. That one is called Olympia. My argument is to show that through a specific cinematic language, Riefenstahl contributed to the sacralization of the Nazi party.

2000 more words to go!!!

About film-making

2009-11-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

So I got involved with this really creative film group in Cambridge that promotes the use of Super 8mm cameras. We make Super 8 films, organize special events - like this weekend we are bringing Norwood Cheek (really talented Los Angeles underground Super 8 filmmaker) to Cambridge for a special screening - and most importantly we manage the Cambridge Super 8 International Film Festival.

This is us:

Concerning the festival, I have the chance to be part of the film selection committee, which means that I get to screen all the films submitted (all shorts) and select which ones will make it to the festival. I am quite enjoying it! Most of these films are high quality works.

I have been looking on eBay for a Super 8 camera but I haven't come across a good deal yet. I would really like to shoot a project on Super 8 and maybe mix Super 8 footage with HD video. I'd like to experiment with the medium, especially with stop-motion animation, which you can easily do with a Super 8 camera.

Of course, now that I have a camera (thanks mom and dad), I have been filming in Cambridge. Most of what I shot deals with Halloween and the 5th of November events. I have yet to edit all this footage. There is a short film competition coming up in November and I am planning to do a short documentary for that with a girl from my programme.

Social life goes on.

Here is a picture from my college Halloween graduate party:

Of course I am the only one that doesn't have a costume :) Didn't have time to look for/make one. Too busy making movies :)
Sorry!

A student in Cambridge

2009-10-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Weeks are passing by so fast here! I can't believe I am already in my third week of school! Twice a week I have a 2-hour seminar with a different professor for each one. Each professor presents a lecture on his area of expertise in film theory and history. So far I've had a seminar on Soviet Cinema in the 1920s, on Hollywood's Golden Age in the 1930s, on Film and Architecture, on Fascist films in Germany and Italy in the 1930s, on Japanese Films in the 1930s and... I think that's all. All fascinating subjects, at least for me :)
The professors are brilliant and the class discussions so thought provoking. I am learning a lot. Before each seminar we have a two-hour block to screen a film assigned by the professor for his/her seminar. We also have assigned readings. The assigned readings are not too heavy but we are encouraged to do more research on our own, which I've been trying to do. I usually watch 1 or 2 additional films and read extracts from other books. I don't have any written assignment beside the 4500 words essay that I need to write by the end of this term (Dec 9). Next week I will submit the topic of my essay. I also need to start looking for a supervisor among the professors teaching the seminars this term. Once I have chosen my topic, the supervisor will oversee my research and writing until I have finished the essay. No need to say that since this is the only written assignment it needs to be perfect!!

This the building were my classes take place

And this is the view I have from the Graduate Center (where all the graduate students from my faculty hang out)

(The big tower in the background is the university library; the largest library I've ever seen. I'll have to take more pictures of it)

And this is the beautiful sunset I got to see coming out from class one evening.

Besides my classes, I get to go to loads of other educational events. So far I have attended three lectures about film: a couple organized by the careers center, which inform students about the application process for internships and jobs in the film industry, and another lecture given by a French woman filmmaker who essentially talked about the use of film in third world country development. She showed a few films she had made for NGO's projects, mainly in Africa. It was so interesting and it really made me want to do social documentaries. There is also a lot of festivals in Cambridge. This week I went to the London Film Festival with three of my classmates and saw a couple of films: The Scouting Book For Boys (a first feature by British director Tom Harper) and About Elly by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi. Both were excellent films with a preference for the Iranian film. Of course I took some pictures of my first London trip!!! :)

These are my classmates at Kings Cross Station

Me in front of the venue in Soho where we had the screening

That was just too great!

A classic tourist shot...Bon, ça va hun!

Street art

I have to present you my friends. The girl I hang out the most with is Valérie. She's from Haïti (so she speaks French) but she also has American citizenship and did her undergraduate studies in California.

That's her with me last night. We went Salsa dancing.

Then there is Kirstie from Scotland (I don't have a picture of her yet) who is doing a Phd in organic biology.

Oh and here are a few pictures from my matriculation dinner where you can see more girls from my college.

This is Fang and she's from China. She lives on my floor and we often chat in the kitchen while we are both cooking :)

The blond girl is Louise and she's British. The girl on the far right is Baryl and she's from Canada.

And then there is Cathie who is from Oxford.

Et voilà.

Oh I forgot this one wearing my beautiful gown!

Me and Cambridge

2009-09-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

So here I am! Finally settled in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe! I still can't believe I now live here. I walk in the streets of Cambridge and I wonder if I might not cross paths with Henri VIII. It's unreal how stunning the buildings are. Today I visited St John's College, and King's college with my mom. We were both in silent awe in front of their chapels, buildings and grounds.
The city is really lively. There is a market every morning with fresh products. Musicians are playing in the streets. I even saw a magician doing card tricks. Right now students are running everywhere getting ready for the beginning of term. I love how they all look so different: Asians, Indians, Arabs, Eastern Europeans, Africans, Latinos, they come from all other the world.
Tonight I went to an International Student introductory night and met with a guy from South Korea whose name is June cause he was born in June :) and then a Canadian girl who can read Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic and some other Scandinavian language!
That's one thing about the students I meet. They are incredibly smart but super down to earth and humble, at least that's the case of those I've met so far. The girl who lives in the room accross mine is doing a PhD in Micro Biology!!!! and she's the nicest girl. I went to a movie last night with her. We saw CREATION, a movie about the life of Charles Darwin and the circumstances in his personal life that brought him to finally publish his "Theory on the evolution of Species". It was super interesting and really well done! Of course by the BBC (I'll work there someday).
So here I am in Murray Edwards College. My college is smaller compared to big names like Trinity or St John but it's nice, I like it. I live in a brand new accommodation complex so my room is spacious and cozy. My mom and I spent the first two days buying stuff for the room, my bathroom and the kitchen (like food, utensils and such). I am now the proud owner of a Crock Pot :)
Voilà for the first bit of my life here. The term starts tomorrow so I'll will post more news about that by the end of the week.

Much love to all those who read this ;)

St John's College

More of St John's

Me in front of King's College

More of King's

My accommodation complex

Our Kitchen

the rest of our kitchen

my room

Stand by Me

2009-09-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

Freaking out time!

2009-09-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

So I'm 10 days away from leaving my good old country again to go live in a foreign country (a bad habit of mine) and I haven't even started to organize my stuff yet!!! I am in total procrastination! (another bad habit)

I should be reading my books (five of them that I'm supposed to have read by the time I start the program), I should get out a couple of suitcases from the storage room and start sorting through my stuff to see what I'm taking with me, and I should be calling my bank, my health insurance, and loads of other places, and...what else? I know there is more.

I HATE moving out!

My Summer in Corsica

2009-09-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

Well, where do I start? So much has been going on these past few months! And in the same time I feel like I have been doing the same routine over and over again.

You may already know that I've been working in a hotel as a receptionist since April. The job mainly consists of planning people's arrival and departure and maintaining communication up to date between the different departments in the hotel. Of course there are loads of over logistical stuff involved in the job but don't worry I will spare you the details.
You're welcome :)

So I moved back to my parents' house with the goal of saving as much money as possible towards my graduate studies at Cambridge. A nice plus about this is that, for the first time in 7 years, I get to have a nice room for myself (it's kind of crazy to say but I always had a room roommate while I lived in the States). I also get to eat good homemade meals everyday (although I have to say that Dina, my previous roommate, was an excellent cook). However moving back with your parents when you're 30 and that you've been independent for the past 10 years of your life is tough. I thought that magically everything would go well between us cause now that I was a grown up, I'd have the maturity to deal with our differences. Well...things are not that easy.

I can't say that this summer was without hardships and sorrow. Leaving my life in Utah was much harder than I thought it would be. The change was brutal. It was my decision to leave Utah to go back to Europe but I also felt that it was God's will to do so. So, when I realized how much I'd left behind and how little I found in Corsica I was discouraged and angry. I couldn't see beyond my present circumstances because I lacked faith. I questioned my decision to come to Corsica along with many other things that I shouldn't have questioned. It was a real identity crisis.

The truth is that a lot of positive things happened to me as well. First of all, I got to meet and become friends with some really great people at the hotel. I actually spend more time with these guys than with my family. We worked together, we ate together and hung out together. We were like a community. I learned a lot from my interactions with them, a lot about myself actually, and a lot about human relationships. I realized how important my standards are in my life and how much they define my identity. I cherish these principles as I cherish life itself. Secondly I met with a great screenwriter and filmmaker at the hotel, who thought I had a lot of potential as a filmmaker. His name is Alain-Michel Blanc. He encouraged me in my choice of career and gave me excellent advice for the future. After our meeting I immediately felt like writing stories and picking up a camera to tell them :)

So now that I am sure of who I am and what I want to do :) I'm leaving for Cambridge, England in two weeks and this is the most exciting thing that has happened to me since I got accepted to BYU and moved to the States.

I hope I get along with the British. I guess if I succeeded with the Americans I should be fine with the Brits! Just kidding :)

New Blog = New Start

2009-08-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start a new blog. Not that the other one was bad or anything, but I got tired of its look and content, which was kind of sparse. In this new one I want to open up a little more about myself and share what is REALLY going on in Aline's life.

I've also chosen to write in English, as opposed to French, my native tongue. The truth is that I know a lot more people who speak English than French, and this number is yet to grow as I'm about to move to live in England. Plus, most French speakers I know read and understand English anyway! But to those of my friends who are lovers of the French language, DO NOT FEAR, I will still, now and then, drop a few French words and expressions. As they say, CHASSER LE NATUREL ET IL REVIENT AU GALOT :P