I am sat in the ICA Bar, on the Mall (aka Queen’s driveway) in sunny London Town, on the final day of LFF 2014. I’ve just cycled down from the National Gallery, where I went for a Sunday afternoon banter with Max Thompson, director of soon-to-be arthouse smash hit IMMORTAL JELLYFISH PORN. We compared notes on films of note (and films of less note) over the festival. Céline Sciamma’s GIRLHOOD was a winner for both of us; Max’s cinematic tastes then going for more of an Asian slant, mine heading towards the documentary and French language. I took him up to Gallery 29 in the National Gallery – the Rubens room – and showed him the Samson & Delilah painting, that Frederick Weisman’s documentary so generously and humorously analyses in a particularly effective scene. Hey folks, you’ve seen the three hour documentary – now go and visit the Gallery! And, dear readers, I did.

So where and what have I been up to in this second half of the festival? I saw my favourite film – Xavier Dolan’s MOMMY. That happened on Wednesday, a day that I had five films lined up to watch, but by Mommy (film number three), I thought I’d been treated to such wonderful cinema that I best not jinx it and watch anymore. That day started with Damien Chazelle’s WHIPLASH, followed by Greg Araki’s new feature WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD, and then onto MOMMY. Could you get a day of cinematic activity like this outside a film festival setting? I’m not sure. Distributors tend to like to space out their best films, and I’m pretty sure we were treated to the Gold Top of the upcoming month’s cinematic releases that day. What a treat!

It’s heartening to be receiving four or five email requests to the Arts Picturehouse asking us when we are going to be screening MOMMY. Word has obviously spread down the Twitter highway, that Dolan’s latest film is one to cherish and enjoy. We screened his last film, TOM AT THE FARM, in Screen 3 last year, and whilst I was perfectly happy with it, MOMMY is a step-up in cinematography, emotional attachment to the characters, and a real sense of joy and sadness which I haven’t experienced in many other pictures this year. MOMMY will hopefully make it to a few shows in Screen 1 in Cambridge when it goes on general release in the UK. The bigger the screen, the better!

No-one else seemed to be aware what was going on. So, naturally, I walked over and listened in.

I accidentally met an acquaintance of mine from Twitter – Casper Salmon, a charmingly softly-spoken and totally cine-literate chap who works at the BBC. Like me, Casper has taken a week’s holiday to come and experience the cinematic delights that the LFF has to offer. This is indicative of the festival, a chance to meet your digital friends and acquaintances and compare notes in real life. Dan, my Clapham Picturehouse counterpart, has been a steadfast viewing companion. At least half of our films we have gone into together, and instead of interacting in comments on Facebook, have sat down and had a real life chat! The really rather pleasant nature of festivals like LFF is having the power to bring different friendship groups together, for however briefly. You see it with the Cambridge Film Festival too. Even with Google calendar and smartphone diaries and all amount of technological help, it’s still rather hard to find time for all your film friends in one’s working life. A film festival is a great way to socialise and let off steam!

Back to the screening of GIRLHOOD on Thursday night and one of those serendipitous moments you just can’t plan. I got to the Odeon West End nice and early, waiting for my sister travelling down from Hoxton to Leicester Square after work. With the red carpet in front of me, I was suddenly aware that the film’s director, Céline Sciamma, was talking to the LFF video team, right in front of me! No-one else seemed to be aware what was going on. So, naturally, I walked over and listened in.

When the video team had finished shooting their interview, I went up and expressed my amazement that there wasn’t a massive crowd surrounding them. Sciamma is one of my favourite directors (up there with Dolan) and with GIRLHOOD my favourite film at Cannes this year, it just seemed a barmy situation to me that more people weren’t there listening to her speak. The presenter in the video team leads me over to Sciamma, introduces me, and suddenly I’m chatting to the director I so greatly admire and am in awe of. We pose for a photo. It doesn’t come out well. She suggests crouching down in front of a poster for her film … and there on my phone is picture of me and Céline Sciamma, her head resting on my shoulder, a massive grin on my face, followed by prolonged blushing on my cheeks. The wonders of being in the right place at the right time. That instance was probably the highlight of LFF pour moi, and I am very grateful to the unnamed video team for introducing me to this fantastic French female director. Moments like this in life are few and far between!

httpvh://youtu.be/Q9LVLCYvqSI