I had the wonderful pleasure last night of attending a private screening of Naoko Tajima’s debut feature film “The Fifth Mind.” The Soho Hotel off Dean Street boasts a screening room with a capacity of 100. The seats are swank red leather, and there is loads of leg room. It’s pricey to rent at £250 an hour with a minimum of 2 hours, but, if you’ve got the cash, this is such a nice venue, and it’s in the heart of Soho, so drinks after are a must.
“The 5th Mind” is a harrowing portrait of two siblings torn apart by a shared childhood experience. One sibling has completely blocked abuse, incest and madness. The other has created 5 minds to deal with the pain. This is a beautifully shot and expertly directed film, but, as the director says, it is not a happy story. If you get a chance to see it, schedule drinks after.
I was supposed to go straight home after as PJ and I were going to do some late night editing. But, drinks at All Bar One (as much as I loathe the place) with old mates was too difficult to pass up. I went to school with Naoko, and there was a contingent of LFS alumni there to commiserate with me about the trajectory of our careers.
After drinking and crying, crying and drinking, we all went for a falafel on Old Compton Street. It’s that place across from The Admiral Duncan…can’t think of the name, but it’s the one with the marquee of the ridiculously good looking people eating falafels (pictured above). What is great about this place is that you can get the basic falafel for £3.90 then top it with a selection of veggie items. I went for loads of top ups* to get in my 5 fruit and veg, although I’m not sure if that’s exactly “legal.”
After, we went to Dan’s place in Soho for a good old fashioned LFS house party. He’s got a tiny, little room that we all piled into, but one wall is white and bare for projecting films. And, cinema geeks that we are, we watched a beautiful nature film set to music, drank and smoked (cause you can if it’s a house party).
All in all, it was a lovely Saturday evening.
*OK, this is gross, so if you are a delicate flower, just skip this part. You pile the top of the falafel and pita with veg. Then you eat down until there is no more veg. Then you pile more stuff on. Repeat until you are finished or about to explode like a gold fish.