Okay, yesterday I called NORM BOLEN ubiquitous, but even higher up the ubiquity ladder is the Conference Director JOOST DEN HARTOG. He was everywhere at once. And no, there’s no such thing as a ubiquity ladder, I made it up.For the entire conference, I attempted to interview Joost, but it might have been easier to secure a chat with Justin Timberlake. Finally in the second half of the final day, I was able to ask Joost a few questions.
I asked him how he thought the AIDC went. He said it wasn’t for him to say and that he was very keen to get feedback. He was always ready for a chat with someone in a corridor to find out what did and didn’t work for them.
Joost has been working for the AIDC since 2005, then he was market place co-ordinator. AIDC 2008 is the second of the three conferences he is contracted to do. He said he was feeling a little seedy because he had been up at 4am to pick up Greenaway from the airport. One of the most frequent questions he had heard about the AIDC keynote speaker was, “Greenaway, what does he have to do with documentary?”
He explained that he finds the distinction between drama and documentary or factual filmmaking to be somewhat artificial, especially in its visual treatment. He also said that the conference needs an intellectual basis as well as commercial one. “We have to talk about more at these things than just business models and how to make money.”
Even as he speaks, a stream of delegates need to talk with Joost or say goodbye if they’re taking an early flight back home. He says he is already thinking about the next AIDC, although he has to attend to something even more important when he gets back to Adelaide. He and his partner are going to have a child. “That’s what has me excited the most.” She is also the director of the Adelaide Fringe Festival. So according to Joost there will be three weeks of craziness first.
Joost says that the AIDC has a wide brief and it is difficult to satisfy such diverse interests as those the conference attracts. He thinks the most important thing is to inspire the conference delegates.
I pointed out that that I had heard about half a dozen ways to pronounce his name during the conference. He said his name, “Joost” and to my ear it sounded like it rhymed with ‘toast’. He said the pronunciation he liked the least was “Juiced.” So there you have it, Aussies.
The contents of this Blog are the sole opinions of the author Phil Jeng Kane, and it does not represent the views of ScreenWest or the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC).
Tags: AIDC, Joost Den Hartog
