YES BLOG

NEW YORK

We arrived back in New York City for the Tribeca Film Festival and our first US press junket, in rain and very, very low cloud. The descent into Kennedy Airport had a slow, surrealist feel, surrounded by greyness – then suddenly breaking through the fog and seeing the ground rushing-up to meet us.

The book of the screenplay arrived at the hotel, hot off the press. Everyone is very pleased; Newmarket Press (the publishers) were a joy to work with, throughout, and very tolerant of my fanatical attention to detail and design. I read through the introductions (by Pankaj Mishra and John Berger) for the first time in a while, and was struck by the freshness and complementary tone of each – John’s more poetic and abstract and Pankaj’s more analytical and political.

I did a Q&A at a screening organised by Esther Margolis (boss of Newmarket Press) for movers and shakers in business, publishing and the arts. It turned out to be extremely lively and interesting, with many astute, generous and surprising comments from the audience.

Simon (Abkarian) came over a day later, and we fell instantly into the usual bantering, playful interactions. He and Joan did many of their TV interviews together, Joan looking very glamorous and even slimmer than before. It was heart-warming and fun to be together again – co-conspirators nostalgic for the intensity of working experience.

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