Etienne’s Journal
What an amazing experience this has all been. Who knew my new job at the Film Academy library would have to lead to such excitement. A famous filmmaker was found.
It all started when I met my friend Isabelle. I first met her at the train station. She worked at this old guy’s toy booth in the train station. He was her godfather. I found out Isabelle loved going to movies but her godfather, Papa Georges, would not allow her to go to movies. I happened to be working at the movie theater. I told her I would sneak her into the movies for free. Isabelle went to a lot of movies. I let a lot of my friends into the movies for free. Unfortunately I got caught, and was fired from my job.
I recently met Isabelle’s friend Hugo at the bookstore. He was sort of rough looking. His clothes were torn and dirty. His hair was long and shaggy. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but Hugo was quiet and shy. Another time when I was in the bookstore I saw Hugo and I was sure he was going to steal a book he had under his arm. It was about magic. To stop him from getting in trouble I did a magic trick for Hugo and gave him the coin to buy the book. I do not think that Hugo has much money.
The next time I saw Hugo he was in the Film Institute library. After I lost my job at the movie theater I started to take classes at the library, and I got a job there. Hugo was at the library to look up information about a movie. He found it in a book I helped him find. I told him, "You know, one of my teachers wrote that book" (p. 346). It had been written by Rene Tabard. The next thing I knew, he said, "'Died? He's not dead'" (360). He was talking about a movie director who was still alive, and not dead, as the book said. He was talking about Georges Melies, the famous filmmaker. It turns out that he is Isabelle’s godfather.
Hugo arranged for me and my teacher to meet Georges Melies. My teacher was stunned by the turn of events. Shortly after that, "The French Film Academy, through the intervention of Rene Tabard, arranged for money to be given to the Melies family" (p. 492). Now we are all invited to attend a black tie party in Mr. Melies’s honor being put on by the Film Institute. It has been a fantastic experience getting to know one of the greatest filmmakers ever.
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