yearbook 2004/05 - The European Film College

evening in the hills of Ithaca New York, (strikingly
similar to the hills of Ebeltoft), where we
toasted each others’ futures and lamented our
impending separation. Sure we’ll stay in touch.
Of course. Sure.
Fredrick was the first to arrive. It’s always
interesting to meet the first student of the coming
year, the first representative of a gang of
110 that in the following 8 months will quickly
grow into a bustling productive cooperative of
personalities from across the globe, thrust into
the hills of Ebeltoft racing to learn and create,
the inevitable life long friendships an added bonus.
Last year it was Scott from South Africa, wondering
around in the dining hall a bit dazed, his
towering backpack proclaiming he was indeed
the first arrival. The last to leave was Thim from
Paris, also in a daze, but this due to lack of sleep
from the annual long goodbye that began the
night before, that rather desperate celebration
where all enlisted cling to the last evening of the
past, refusing to sleep, hoping and preying by
ignoring the clock they can somehow persuade
the gods to let the madness continue..
Yesterday I was sitting in Big Bear, laughing
in the dark with the rest of you as Luis charged
through the EFC valley, then urgently sprinted
across the football field, finally winding up in
Blue house with his elexir. The shooting games
are magical in a way, throwing open the doors
to the candy store and letting you all charge in,
elated from the disbelief of your good fortune.
Crazy, yes. Meaningful, absolutely. Despite being
a bit daunting in its scope, it’s the freedom
of this place that makes it so innovative, and, of
course so marvellous.
And maybe that’s what I’m trying to get at.
No matter what you take with your from this
fabulous creative playground out in the middle
of nowhere, the one thing I can guarantee
is some lasting friendships, the biggest one of
all, I hope, being the EFC. The school itself being
young, it will continue to grow and mature.
FROM THE TEACHERS
We hope to give you all have an easy avenue
for staying in touch. by creating on the EFC
website an online alumnae directory, with you
being the first class to unanimously participate.
Aside from the fact it might be nice if you happen
to be travelling through Portugal to look
up Miriam or Luis, or perhaps Juluut if you’re
passing through Greenland, it’s an invaluable
tool for networking and finding employment.
Ideally, ten years from now when you’re directing
your second feature, some kid from the class
of 2014 will call you asking for advice. I’d wager
that due to your mutual EFC bond, you’ll be
more apt to give them some pointers or even
start them out on the big journey.
Yesterday a bunch of strangers were having
the inauguration party in the dining hall,
slowly migrating outside to sit around the fire
pits, Jon and Eugene playing guitar, others singing
along..
Probably there’ll be more of the same on that last
Saturday and then I’ll wonder over to the dining
hall several nights later, the din of student
traffic gone, my footsteps echoing in the loud
silence, the big room now a temporary shrine
to the class of 2004, and somewhere from above
I’ll hear the music but you guys will be gone
and yesterday will be approaching faster than
I can believe with 110 more friends in waiting,
eager to strut their stuff
here in the hills of Ebeltoft.
When you guys leave,
you haunt the place.
It becomes impossibly
quiet and if you come
here alone, at night
and wonder the halls,
your voices start to eerily
drift down from the
rafters.
Memories of week one
Photo: James Fernald