Got here yesterday afternoon and headed to the Wheeler Opera House for the first program of the festival. It blew me away. As filmmakers Sylvia Johnson and Ismet Ergun said in the Q&A which followed - "It's all about the storytelling". Those stories ranged from cinema-going kids in Turkey, to a murder in Inuit country, to the streets of Brazil, and to the rehab clinic at Walter Reed. The second program screened later the same night. It was not quite as strong as the first, but it did have ELEGY FOR ELSWICK ENVOY. Ok, so on paper when you look at the description of ELSWICK ENVOY you immediately think this is going to be boring. I mean, come on, it's a 24 minute doc about a handicapped equipped car that's been transporting the artist and filmmaker Nancy Willis for over 20 years. How wrong! Nancy Willis is funny and authentic. Her genuine love for and attachment to this beat-up car, and her quest to find a "proper" home for it, makes ELSWICK ENVOY one of the best short films of the year. It was the highlight of the evening. Check out the program descriptions at www.aspenfilm.org