I came across the details of this film festival on a flyer outside a store while strolling down California Avenue downtown. I came back home and checked out the website. It was exciting to me that it was very close to the Caltrain station (accessible to me) and that they had some interesting volunteering opportunities. I immediately signed up for two shifts.
Now, this is the second year of PAIFF and they mainly showcase independent films across different genres. It is a four day festival in the last week of September and the movies are shown in 3 different theatres-Palo Alto Square 1 and 2 and the Aquarius theatre. They also have free movie screening for the public in the outdoor theatre at the festival village.
I volunteered on two days. The first was at the office before the day of the festival. I was in charge of answering phone calls. Honestly, I was very nervous as I didn't know what kind of questions I had to answer. A few calls asked me details like parking space which I had no idea about. Then the volunteer manager handed me a list of names and phone numbers and asked to call each one to see if they are available for volunteering. It had 120 numbers! Imagine the horror of having to call each one and repeat the same message over and over again. Most of them went directly to voicemail. Overall it was a tiring process and honestly I had expected something more fun that this. To compensate for this boredom, I took an hour long break and treated myself to yummy burger and fries at a nearby restaurant called 'Workshop' On the whole my first volunteering experience was nothing like I'd imagined it would be.
My second shift was on Friday. It was but natural for me to be skeptical about it after my first experience. Nevertheless I still went there. This time I was working at the Festival Village. I was assigned to the Information Booth. My responsibilities included answering questions about the event, directing patrons to the appropriate places. This definitely was fun. I got all sorts of questions ranging from details about the movies playing, show times to silly questions like if I had chewing gum. It indeed was fun interacting with so many people in one day. There were two other kids assisting me at the booth. One of them had no idea what he was doing and was giving all sorts of crazy, wrong answers. I even suspected he was talking to himself. A total wacko.
There were food trucks selling very yummy and cheap food. When I got a chance I went to check out the food there. I must admit, I had the yummiest sandwich in the Banjara Bistro truck. I reminded me so strongly of 'Kachi dabeli' I got into a conversation with an elderly gentleman who was also volunteering. We had a nice chat while devouring our food.
Digitally remastered version of the movie 'E.T' was being screened on the big screen to celebrate the 30 anniversary of the movie. Before the movie began, there was a small Q&A with some of the members of the technical crew who worked on the film. Although they were all Academy award nominees or winners, sadly I didn't recognize any of them.
Though I didn't stay back to catch the movie, I received this
and saw this. Which I thought were really cool.
As for the actual film festival, I used my free ticket vouchers (volunteer perk) to watch 2 movies back to back (yeah, I love doing that). I saw the movies 'Butter' and 'Zarafa', both of which, I thought, were absolutely wonderful.
Overall, it was totally worth volunteering and participating in the Palo Alto Film Festival. I'm definitely going to attend it next year too!
Now, this is the second year of PAIFF and they mainly showcase independent films across different genres. It is a four day festival in the last week of September and the movies are shown in 3 different theatres-Palo Alto Square 1 and 2 and the Aquarius theatre. They also have free movie screening for the public in the outdoor theatre at the festival village.
I volunteered on two days. The first was at the office before the day of the festival. I was in charge of answering phone calls. Honestly, I was very nervous as I didn't know what kind of questions I had to answer. A few calls asked me details like parking space which I had no idea about. Then the volunteer manager handed me a list of names and phone numbers and asked to call each one to see if they are available for volunteering. It had 120 numbers! Imagine the horror of having to call each one and repeat the same message over and over again. Most of them went directly to voicemail. Overall it was a tiring process and honestly I had expected something more fun that this. To compensate for this boredom, I took an hour long break and treated myself to yummy burger and fries at a nearby restaurant called 'Workshop' On the whole my first volunteering experience was nothing like I'd imagined it would be.
My second shift was on Friday. It was but natural for me to be skeptical about it after my first experience. Nevertheless I still went there. This time I was working at the Festival Village. I was assigned to the Information Booth. My responsibilities included answering questions about the event, directing patrons to the appropriate places. This definitely was fun. I got all sorts of questions ranging from details about the movies playing, show times to silly questions like if I had chewing gum. It indeed was fun interacting with so many people in one day. There were two other kids assisting me at the booth. One of them had no idea what he was doing and was giving all sorts of crazy, wrong answers. I even suspected he was talking to himself. A total wacko.
There were food trucks selling very yummy and cheap food. When I got a chance I went to check out the food there. I must admit, I had the yummiest sandwich in the Banjara Bistro truck. I reminded me so strongly of 'Kachi dabeli' I got into a conversation with an elderly gentleman who was also volunteering. We had a nice chat while devouring our food.
Digitally remastered version of the movie 'E.T' was being screened on the big screen to celebrate the 30 anniversary of the movie. Before the movie began, there was a small Q&A with some of the members of the technical crew who worked on the film. Although they were all Academy award nominees or winners, sadly I didn't recognize any of them.
and saw this. Which I thought were really cool.
As for the actual film festival, I used my free ticket vouchers (volunteer perk) to watch 2 movies back to back (yeah, I love doing that). I saw the movies 'Butter' and 'Zarafa', both of which, I thought, were absolutely wonderful.
Overall, it was totally worth volunteering and participating in the Palo Alto Film Festival. I'm definitely going to attend it next year too!
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