The searchlight draws people to the historic California Theater for the opening night of Cinequest. People in the know buy passes and tickets early. The theater always sells out the first night. It’s important for even journalists to arrive early because the staff will count empty seats and sell them.

Opening night, and Cinequest in general, doesn’t seem official until you’ve seen and been greeted by the ever-cheerful Nathan Louie. It seems demeaning to call a person a mascot, so, perhaps he’s the Cinequest avatar? At any rate, he has the most amazing range of fancy suits, topcoats, and hats. Simply glamorous.

This year, there was greeter competition in the form of models sporting the matching dresses and small laptops designed by Vivienne Tam. The hp laptops were about the size of a clutch purse. During the preamble there was some video of the catwalk, accompanied by live models in front, and a filmed statement by Vivienne Tam. Steve Wozniak also made a video appearance with his partner for Dancing with the Stars.

Probably my biggest issue with the timing of the Cinequest opening, is that I never seem to have time to eat dinner beforehand. By the end of the film, my bloodsugar plummets, which tends to make me a bit giddy and airheaded. After the film, this year it was Wake, there is always a packed celebration. The past couple of years, it was held in the lovely Mosaic Lounge at the Hotel Montgomery. This year it was at a new venue. I misread the directions in the press pack, and neglected to look up the addresses on Google Maps on my iPhone. Consequently, I led Keith and Maureen to the wrong place, whereupon we gave up and went to Denny’s. It was a long night, and I was tired.