Eric Nazarian - December 25, 2007

Dear Friends,

Welcome to The Blue Hour blog. First off, I want to express my deepest thanks to everybody who came out and packed the entire house at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles on November 3. It was a sold out screening and the first of its kind for the AFFMA Film Festival's 10 year history. Also, Grazie mille to all the wonderful cinephiles of Torino, Italy for supporting independent cinema and watching The Blue Hour at the Torino Film Festival!!

I just returned from the Torino where we were in-competition for the international feature award. Torino was a celebration of wonderful films from many countries from the UK to the Far East and surrounded with movielovers from all over Europe. We had 3 packed screenings and got the "Film of the Day" pick by the European Network of Young Cinema magazine. The last screening at the Massimo theater was completely sold out!!! Bundled in our winter clothes, Emily Rios (my road comrade who plays Happy) and I went to the theater only to be informed that there were no seats left! We opted to sit on the floor of our own screening, noticing office chairs with rollers that been placed in the front, side and middle rows to accommodate some of the last viewers trickling in. This was one of the most unforgettable moments of the festival. I'll never forget the sight of so many people from different age groups and backgrounds sitting side-by-side, engaged with Happy spraypainting, Ridley strumming, Avo roaming the riverbed and Humphrey cutting out coupons. "L'Ora blu" found a pulse in Torino. The feeling of seeing an audience watch your film for the first time is one of the most special-exciting-nerve wracking aspects of being a filmmaker. That last screening in Torino reminded me again why I make films - to share stories and hopefully strike a common chord in a theater of people who come together out of love for cinema and independent movies.

On that note, I wish everybody and their families a happy and healthy holiday season with great food, spirits and many wonderful movies!!
Til '08!

Best wishes,

Eric Nazarian