Well, here we are...the UK premiere. It was one of those dates that went in the diary and seemed a LONG way away and now here we are. The Royal Geographical Society tonight (all invited!) should be a great place to launch the film. There will be lots of guests, that's for sure and we've great prizes for the raffle...but, above all, it will be a good way to show the film to the UK for essentially the first time.
I feel so honoured that Michael Morpurgo is coming to introduce the film - and it's been great to have so many messages of support from friends and colleagues. One has to be realistic too: this won't be a red carpet premiere that precedes month-long runs in the cinemas of the country. We have a target of 100 arthouse screenings...and we'll see. Certainly we've been getting some good press coverage: Voice of America, BFBS, Afghan Voice Radio, BBC World News, BBC Radio Sussex, BBC Asian Network, Press TV, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, Independent on Sunday and more... How much impact any of it has is impossible to gauge... I know that the positive press we have had in the past for In Search of Mozart and In Search of Beethoven does make a difference - and made both films great successes - but social docs are so tough. I guess, maybe, at the end of the day films are supposed to entertain and peopel fear a lecture from docs that report on the problems of the world... As I say, we have invested a fortune in time and money this year to shoot the film out of its rocket and by the end of November we'll have to step back and see whether it reaches any stars...(sorry about the metaphor...!! I do try to be an artists, you know!).
Anyway, it's time to dust off a suit and make my way to London - CNN want an interview at 4pm - now that could be very useful. And let's hope we raise a lot of money for charity and Mir tonight.
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