If you ask me how it felt to be at Viennale (the Vienna International Film Festival) with the most beloved Captain I will tell you… It was like walking in the most amazing dream and then waking up to find it was all real…

To see Captain Milkshake being appreciated and enjoyed in a time when it can make such a positive impact can literally bring tears to this reporter’s eyes. And to be seen with other important films such as David Zeiger’s Sir, No Sir, Garret Scott/Ian Olds Occupation: Dreamland and George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck is all the more impactive.

The Viennale group put new meaning to the phrase “wined and dined”. We felt so special and well taken care of… Everyone was extremely kind, helpful, easy-going and supportive of Captain. They were totally “there” for us and I will never forget that. The ambiance is one of fun with no snobbishness added in. It really IS the “people’s festival”. We would like to especially thank… Hans, Katja, Markus, Hella, Anna, Bobby, Claudia, Lea, Verena, Peter, Chris, Ulla, Jakob, Helmut, Ursula, Gunther, Gabriela, Antonia and Richard.

Norman, Martin, Marcus and Chris sold Captain Milkshake DVD’s and T-shirts at their most lovely booth- the Alphaphil (items from Norman’s video store and Chris’s bookstore/cafe). How wonderful is THAT!

Gianluca and Mike, who were there recording the festival and are huge Captain fans (on par with me and THAT says something)… are thinking of future possibilities that will champion our Captain. Cis, Marie Claire and Neil are all over that too!

The crowds were large with all the great marketing…huge signs everywhere…. even a giant screen on the street in the opera district showing clips of all the films… smaller screens in each venue enticed people to see as many films as they could. Of course their reputation as a great festival keeps people coming too.

Hans Hurch, the Director of Viennale, and Katja Wiederspahn, Programming Director, were kind enough to let me interview them at the closing party… They both said wonderful things about Captain…

Katja said “…You really get the feeling of freedom. It is eye-opening, joyful, delightful, liberating, amazing, surprising… so full of images you wouldn’t expect…”

Hans said… “…absolutely stunning and something very special. What was important for me was that it is really an original work… it is very moving, very political, very cinema graphic film and the interesting thing about the film is… when you see it now- it is absolutely fresh- it’s as if no time (has gone by) it is a real document of a certain time, of a certain state of mind, even of a certain way of cinema… It is a film when you see it today- so much time later, it is a film that is much more real, much more present, much more alive then many films that I saw that were just made a half a year ago- this is a very special quality…”

Thank you, thank you Viennale for making our dream come true…

Laemmle Theatres for 3 screenings in West Hollywood and 2 in Pasadena!
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And a special hug to Scott Marks for screening Captain at MoPA, San Diego- 7 shows!!!!