The first time I went to the cinema was with my father to watch Sylvester Stallone's Rambo: First Blood, at a 'Bioscope' next to a taxi rank on a Friday afternoon. I dont remember watching the film at all, I was mesmerised by the dark space and the huge screen in front of me, and the fascinating characters that populated the space. I loved the fact that I had the best seat in the house, which was located directly above my father's shoulders and I vividly remember the pungent smell of sweat mixed with alcohol pouring out of people's pores, no one sat down, the wild cheering and fists punching the air after something major happened in the movie, which of course I knew nothing about and for me the people in the movie seemed to speak a language that was foreign to me. But I did not care as I appreciated soaking up the atmosphere. Oh how times have changed, nowadays whenever I go to the cinema everything seems so controlled, one has options: I can either purchase my ticket online or inflict self-tortue by waiting in a never ending line to be helped by a person who cares more about getting through the day than regale me with endless suggestions about what I should watch. You have options of where you want to sit and even better, it is within your right to remove someone who has taken your place. The smell of butter and popcorn fills the air and the space is air conditioned. Everyone whispers, people step on your toes while locating their seats and you are kindly asked to switch off you mobile while you are at it. There is muffled laughter and uncomfortable silences and I always notice my fellow companions always keeping track of time. One tends to sometimes ignore the simple pleasures of being transported into another reality for a couple of hours, which is shared by a community willing to forget about the mundane, machine like existance that consumes us daily and I thank the festival for reminding me each and every year how much I truly love cinema.