I just got back from what was probably one
of the most gratifying trips of my life. In the six years of Phsics Media’s
existence I never thought we’d get to a point where we’d be hosting our own
events in places like Amsterdam. The flight from Cape Town to anywhere in the world
takes a lot out of you. I arrived there on a Wednesday, which also happened to
be the day of the Kings birthday, and was surprised by how welcoming the city
is. I linked up with Joya Mooi for the first time and I got to learn about her
more as a person. I then had to meet with the venue owners of the theater we
were screening our film at. It was weird for me to attend a meeting that was
set for 9pm. But I guess that’s what’s great with travelling; it opens your
mind to how things are done elsewhere.
On event day, which was on a Saturday, I woke up having a panic attack. My friend Sanjeet was with me at the time and we weren’t in Amsterdam just on a social level, so we took event day to visit famous places around the city that we didn’t get to see. At about 5pm we took the Uber to the event venue, a ride which typically took 8 minutes from the hotel. But our Uber ride ended up taking nearly half an hour (we had scheduled a pre-screening at 5:30 to check any technical glitches) because of road closures. We get to the venue ten minutes before 6pm, and some of our guests were already in the theatre screening room. So we just did a one take check on the audio, visuals and lighting. Then Joya walks in, greets me with a warm smile and tells me to relax. I really did have to relax but things weren’t going exactly as I would have liked them to. So about 15 minutes in, we started with the screening.
On event day, which was on a Saturday, I woke up having a panic attack. My friend Sanjeet was with me at the time and we weren’t in Amsterdam just on a social level, so we took event day to visit famous places around the city that we didn’t get to see. At about 5pm we took the Uber to the event venue, a ride which typically took 8 minutes from the hotel. But our Uber ride ended up taking nearly half an hour (we had scheduled a pre-screening at 5:30 to check any technical glitches) because of road closures. We get to the venue ten minutes before 6pm, and some of our guests were already in the theatre screening room. So we just did a one take check on the audio, visuals and lighting. Then Joya walks in, greets me with a warm smile and tells me to relax. I really did have to relax but things weren’t going exactly as I would have liked them to. So about 15 minutes in, we started with the screening.
When we finished screening our film, people from the audience came up to me to tell me how inspired they were by our story Progressive Art. As a storyteller, that is the most gratifying feeling in the world! I don’t want to give much away, but we still have 3 more cities to go and I look forward to connecting with everyone. Amsterdam was amazing. See you soon - Tebs
