Rafi Pitts

My greatest pleasure being here in Sibiu at this workshop is that I met a guy called Rafi Pitts. He is a forty year old half-English and half-Iranian film-maker working and staying mainly in Paris. He is an editor and director and basically he is not doing documentaries. As far as I know he did one documentary only that's why he is here in Sibiu at Aristotles Workshop... He is such a nice guy! I watched that doc by Rafi about 'Abel Ferrara' - who is a film director too. It is an amazing New York-movie like Cassavettes (Faces and Shadows of New York etc.) about a daily life of a film director in New York. I am so happy that I have met this guy. He is a very warm-heart person, a guy who is good to have fun with as well as the best story-teller. He is kind and knows a lot almost everything about movies and can give advises to young film-makers without being scolastic... He can get their respect, he is focused like hell and has the freedom of thinking. He has an incredible background and life-story not the easiest one I have ever heard...



I will really miss him when I'll be back to my country... Rafi Pitts is an amazing rock and roll man... I wish I could play the guitar on the same level how he makes films...

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www.sandormester.com

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Documentary Film Workshop in Sibiu

My Ester is taking part at a documentary film workshop in Sibiu as a director. I have been being very much interested in other artistical areas for a long a time especially in filming... I learnt a lot about film-making here in Sibiu even I wanted to or not... I met Jennifer Fox documentary film director from New York and have seen four parts of her film called 'Flying'. There are editors from a French television 'Arte' as well as couple of people from the Romanian television, Greeks, Croats etc. There is a Romanian-American actor called 'Dan' who is the leader of the workshop. He is the best host... The most loud students are the Serbian girls... They are very tough and funny..

Classical Guitar Duo Improvisation in Sibiu

Bob Bales, founder and leader of European House of Art in Romania, introduced me Neil O'Grady a brilliant classical guitarist from the UK. He is a nice man and a great guitarist. Bob wanted us to play together but we did not have time and possibilty to arrange to play some nice classical guitar duo that was written by the good old composers like Mauro Guilliani... It was on Tuesday 21th Aug...

I met Neil at 6pm during the sound check and we improvised on stage around 10... He played first in solo pieces of Villa-Lobos as well as one his own pieces and an English folk song arranged by him for classical guitar. He was singing the song and acompany himself on guitar. It was excellent. I played afterwards in solo pieces of Fransisco Tarrega, Agustin Mangore Barrios and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Then two of my pieces: Bagatelle and Lullaby. I wrote Lullaby for my beautyfull daughter Sarah who I am missing her so much since I did not see her for a long time... My Romanian friend called NIC recorded a lot last night...

We could not really reherse with Neil before the concert and it went very well!! We did an encore another improvisation. Audience liked it, we liked it so it was such a great concert. Neil told me that he knew my name but he did not remember why, when and where...

I have such a nice time in Sibiu in European Capital of Culture!

I will miss this place very much!

Good to be in Sibiu, Nagyszeben

I am enjoying being in Sibiu with such an international company like I have here.. I am doing my concerts with the help of The Art of Culture and/or European House of Arts running by Bob Bales who is a great musician, painter and somehow the representative of European culture... He has Romanian and Greek collegues and invites artists all around from the EU. Romanians are very nice to me, they help and support me more than it is I ever could imagine... and of course the local Hungarians help me a lot but there are not so many... I stay at the same hotel than all the other film-maker students and teachers.