by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE

Let's just say the first 24 hours or so haven't been the easiest here in Berlin. Eugene (iW editor-in-chief) and I headed out easily enough, breezing through check-in at JFK on Air France, greeted with a friendly "bon jour" before going to the desk. The flight was pretty nice too, the least amount of turbulence crossing the Atlantic I can ever remember, and we arrived on time.

Things changed from there... The pile up to get through customs at Paris CDG was quite thick with a flight also coming in at the same time from India. Our friends from Wellspring and THINKFilm were on our flight, and we chatted waiting for our turn. While waiting, our friends told us their flight to Berlin was in one hour. What!! Why are we (the iW folks) on a flight to Berlin in three hours?

So, off they went to Berlin, while Eug and I hung out at Paris CDG. It was long enough that it would be boring, but not long enough to actually go into Paris -- which I personally would have loved to do! Paris is a wonderful and beautiful city, and unlike many I've spoken with who've visited, I haven't encountered any of its fabled rudeness (plus I live in NYC, so who cares if they're rude). Anyway, we finally walked like zombies to our gate after eating a tasty (and not cheap) pain au chocolate and jus d'orange at a cafe in the terminal. At the gate, however, the sign said, "vol retarde." I'm not quite sure, but it must have meant late flight, because the damn thing didn't board for another hour. Then, we had to travel by bus across the tarmack and waited still longer (for no apparent reason) before boarding. After it was all said and done, we were two hours late, and didn't get into our hotel until the early afternoon.

So, we checked into our hotel. The website for the hotel had boasted of its internet access, but we were informed upon checking in that the rooms with the actual wireless access were taken, save for the one room that's designed for people with physical disabilities. We took it... To say the least, the hotel looks like an Ikea store just exploded in it. It tries to be sort of hip modern cool, but it pretty much just kind of sucks. But, it's near Potsdamer Platz, so convenient for us to attend the festival. Because we were late checking in (and because I fell asleep in a completely deep coma due to horrible jet lag) we were too late to get inside the Berlinale Palast where we were supposed to get our check-in material and mail. So, no invitation to the opening night film and party (although we weren't totally sure there would be one anyway). Instead, we went to some art space/bar for an informal party for the Panorama section. The section is having its 20th anniversary this year. The smokey room included a video collage from Panorama moments, while attendees had wine/beer and smoked up a storm. Some friends were going to hit Berlin's infamous bars afterward, but there was no way in hell I could go. I was a complete zombie, and had to turn in -- into my tiny (and I do mean tiny) bed to sleep.

The next day, we got up to go to the Talent Campus brunch. Originally, we thought we'd get the hotel breakfast (8 euros) but we checked out what they offered, and basically it was croissants and coffee. Uh, ok, danke but nein danke!! Later, we met up with an American artist friend, John von Bergen, who is living here in Berlin. Thank God he was kind enough to get me a German SIM card for my phone. Apparently it's a total pain in the ass to try and do (especially if you don't speak German) so he probably saved us three hours of time figuring it out. Instead of dealing with that, we spent the time trying to get online. In the end, we spent the big euros online in Starbucks.... When will I get to see a movie?