Paris, Forum des Images, April 8, 2010, 10.25 am.

These are perhaps the expressions of horror you might expect from a producer (on the left, Alexandre Brachet, upian.com) and a broadcaster (on the right, Joël Ronez, Arte.tv) when the bug strikes. When the fucking connection disconnects. An expression none of the journalists saw at the Forum des Images yesterday just before the press screening of Prison Valley.

It’s 10.20 am. We’ve drunk so much coffee that everyone’s hearts are about to explode. Alexandre’s busy on his computer. After all, he has the difficult task in a few minutes’ time of ‘giving a demo’ of a quarter of Prison Valley. 10.22 and the Forum des Images’ technical wizard (in the middle) is asking “Where do you write commands on a Mac?” Of course we had to answer “There on the terminal” as if nothing was wrong, as if everything was fine. As if at least a part of a year and a half of work didn’t hinge on what would happen in the next few minutes.

10.24. There’s a crowd just outside the door. A hundred people who suspect nothing, among them most of Upian’s development team, without whom Prison Valley couldn’t have been made – would’ve been made. 10.26. Philippe takes the photo and I to my heels. Uli, Astrid and Simon, the project’s brave English and German translators, are out there. Some time I’ll have to write about their sleepless nights and stressful days too. 10.28 and there’s a noise like a modem. The magic of the web of yesteryear. You are connected. But it crashes again – of course – a few minutes later. It’s all right though, it works again too. At last.

10.31. The press conference can begin.

10.35. The doors open.

It lasts for about an hour and a half.

Tell you about the rest soon.