ducklight:

inkskinned:

i know people are good because of this: the universe often assigns me side quests. in a circular strangeness; despite my inability to locate my-own-anything, i am almost-always finding someone else’s lost things. dogs, coats, phones, cash, laptops. it happens so often it’s almost tiring; suddenly being looped into a tiny amount of detective work.

but when i’m with other people who are not used to this: the response is almost invariably delight. yes, maybe they are simply thrilled by the mystery. it’s just… they light up so much. i think maybe more… i think they like the opportunity to do something kind.

a few weeks ago, i was at a bar and i found a wallet as soon as we stepped outside. i felt nervous to ask for help, worried i would be holding up the night. i picked it up and said go on without me, i should help this get back to its home.

instead, three people pulled out their phones - to find him on facebook, to help cancel his credit cards. two people went back into the bar to tell the bartender, two others went calling down the street. group texts, facebook posts, instagram stories. people, without even seeing what happened, start offering help to me. fifteen minutes and: someone knows someone who knows the guy. the cheer that went up - just for finding him, just for this small thing. someone gets him on the phone. strangers dance around me, hopping on their feet - are you the girl that found that wallet? good for you, that’s a good thing you’re doing/same thing happened to me and somebody did what you’re doing and i thank god everyday for people like you/i can’t believe you found him so fast this is so exciting

i gave it back to him in a parking lot. i watched his shoulders sag with relief. there was cash in it still - he checked the pocket, and then sheepishly held the money out to me. i didn’t take it. i held up my hands. “it’s no problem, man. i know you’d do the same for me.”

i don’t know him, to be honest. i don’t know if he is the same kind of person i am. but he nodded at me.

and i know people are good. i know people are good, because the way this story ends isn’t surprising. we wave goodbye awkwardly. my friend loops their arm around me.

“i can’t believe we got it back to him,” they said. “i’m going to be riding that high for weeks.”

@hopepunk-humanity

(via hopepunk-humanity)

thebusylilbee:

Why indie US american films are being released less and less in french theaters

A24’s The Green Knight and Macbeth did not get theater releases in France, and now it seems that Everything Everywhere All At Once will not get one either. I was annoyed by that so I tried to look up what was going on and I found my answer in a 157 pages long thesis written by Quentin Paquet, during his 5th year in La Fémis (big parisian film school where Céline Sciamma studied). It focuses on the distribution of independent US american films in France. I am leaving this post in english because I assume this could be interesting for international cinephiles/film students (maybe at least 3 of you ? idk).

The author begins by observing that despite France having a crazy amount of legal protection put in place to ensure that indie films get a decent distribution on the national territory, US american films that aren’t blockbusters seem to be reaching our theaters less and less. Here are the reasons he gives for this situation :

1. The first thing endangering indie films in general is the extremely quick turn-over in theaters. There are simply too many films being released in french theaters. 13 films are released every week in France, 17 during big release periods (holidays and september). Only 3 to 5 films manage to reach the financial needs of distributors on average, the others disappear quickly to mitigate the costs.
2. The second problem for indie films is that they are all competing for the few places left by the giants, that are becoming more and more numerous. In 2018, 129 US american films were released in France, 95 of which were produced by major studios. These films represent 18.9 percent of total cinema releases in the country that year, so basically 1/5th of the releases, but they make up 45% of total tickets sold, the giant majority of which were sold for big studio movies.
3. The third thing endangering indie US american films specifically is pirating. US american cinema is the number 1 illegally viewed cinema in France, and since releases are not internationally synchronized for indie films the way they are for blockbusters, there’s a significant loss of viewers because many are able to watch the films online months before a potential official release in France. Overall, it’s actually easier to release and market indie asian films successfully in France because the crowd is less likely to have already viewed these movies online.
4. Fourth problem is that distribution companies are dying at an alarming rate in France. Distribution costs have been increasing by 4.9% every year on average, so distributing indie films is becoming less and less financially rewarding. Since distributing independent films is more costly, and revenue is less predictable than ever (depends on the big movie releases happening at the same time, the marketing, the online hype, etc) distributors that take too many risks tend to die quickly. There has been no long term success in the french distribution sector in decades. Vincent Maraval, co-creator of the french production and distribution company Wild Bunch, is quoted saying: “It’s not the number of independent US american films that’s decreasing, it’s the distributors that are willing to buy them that are dying. Today I can sell a film for 500k euros to France and 250k euros to Benelux. Back in the days the french sale would have been 2.5 million euros.”
5. The fifth problem is specific to France: the country has historically been so good to indie films that producers are unwilling to adapt their selling prices to the new realities of the market. Producers are convinced that if there is one place where a small film can work it’s France. The country’s reputation has effectively negatively impacted french distributors, who are not asked the same prices as their neighbors (Germany and Benelux get lower prices than France on indie US american films). US american studios like A24 for exemple are completely unwilling to decrease their prices, they are more interested in selling to new actors - aka streaming services - that can offer them the price they expect, than to adapt to the new classical release market. The result is that indie US american films are simply too expensive compared to the potential revenue they can bring because US americans are trying to sell based on the revenues they could expect to make in France in the 90’s. Alexis Mas, director of the distribution company Condor, explains that when he and his team tried to obtain the rights of A24’s film First Cow for a theater release, they were given a price way above anything they could afford. They offered to create a whole program of events around the film with the film’s team and festivals etc. to try to carry it nationally to compensate for their lower price but A24 was not interested (the film ended up being released on the streaming service MUBI first and was followed by a limited release in theaters).

So there you go ! I’m sure this is gonna interest 3 people tops but I wanted my answer and I got it so I’m sharing it !

1617:

(via anxiously)

i-wanna-do-something:

there are many benefits to being a marine biologist

(via nintendocialism)