Bonjour à tous et à toutes!
What’s up Dragons? I’m Hannah Kaylor. a 22-year-old aspiring filmmaker from Colorado currently living the dream in Charleville-Mézières, France. After graduating from Calvin College this past May, I got a job teaching in the Ardennes region of France as a way of improving my language skills and spending more time immersed in French culture. While here, I’m also working as a film journalist intern for 72 Dragons. I’m developing a web series about the world of film in several different French-speaking cities.
Right now, I’m gearing up to head out on a 2-week trip to Lyon, Geneva, and Nice, where I’ll be finding filmmakers and creators to interview, as well as shooting footage representing each city’s unique personality. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to travel the country, meeting new people and creating art together. I have visited both Lyon and Geneva before as a tourist, but Nice will be new to me, so I’m very excited to get to explore each city in depth.
Unfortunately, no project is complete without its fair share of hiccups. I had initially planned on making a trip to Brussels, Belgium in January as my first stop of the series, but things have been delayed as a result of visa troubles. French bureaucracy is slow at best and nonexistent at worst, so I can’t say I’m surprised I’ve had issues, but it’s still frustrating to not be able to officially “legally” leave and re-enter the country. Luckily, since the Ardennes region is right on the Belgian border, Brussels is much more accessible than other parts of France. Something I’ve learned from living in France is that flexibility is an essential trait to possess; the ideas of efficiency and speed are not held to the same standard here as they are in the US.
I’ll be updating these journals as I travel, so check back for more stories - hopefully good ones! - from the road.
For now, à bientôt !