YIDFF

[Nornes, Mark]

Asako, director of the festival's Tokyo office and a longtime member of KineJapan, gave some good info on this. I thought I'd chime in with one alternative. It's a particularly good one for people who want to visit this venerable fest but don't have money for hotels. I'm thinking of Couchsurfing.org, which I have been using to great success. I have to say, I've become a fan of this.

It's a social networking site, like Facebook, except that it's for people who like people face to face. Face-to-Facebook, you could call it. People will open their home to you out of the goodness of their hearts. If you're "ningengirai" it's not for you. But if you want to see how the locals are living, it's wonderful. Not to mention free. And there is no obligation to reciprocate by opening your home, although this is all about good karma in the end. Here the site:

http://www.couchsurfing.org

You can look up me to see basically how it works. You find people in the place you want to go to. Exchange some email with them and seed if their couch is free. And you go there and enjoy their hospitality with no expectations other than being a gracious and respectful guest.

I've used it a few times, and it's made my trips far more memorable. Depending on the person, they'll show you around, help you orient yourself, introduce you to their friends, and even cook for you. Beats a hotel any day.

I see that there are two people in Yamagata city that "have couches." Both are foreign English teachers.

See you there!

Markus


On 8/22/09 1:12 AM, "matteo boscarol" <matteo.boscarol at gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Kinejapanners,

I`ll be in Yamagata October 9th-13th for the YIDFF, since is my first
time I was wondering if
anyone knows of a reasonable place to stay in.

Thank you

Matteo Boscarol
- "Festival dei Popoli" International Documentary Film Festival-
   Firenze, Italy.
   mobile 090 9892 1623

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