When you travel, especially to festivals, your world shrinks. In many ways, it's like being a kid again — you just hang out with whomever happens to live next door. I found myself shacked up at Harry's Burrito — halfway between the Albertson's grocery and the Holiday Village theater, and a much better option than Giant Panda — with Hungarian filmmaker Bálint Kenyeres, whose film, Before Dawn, is part of Shorts Program V.

While ungraciously stuffing burritos into our mouths, we chatted about the festival thus far. Bálint, who was nominated for a Palme D'Or at Cannes last year, gave me the downlow on the features he'd seen, and I must say he struck me as a man of good taste. Though he loves Paris, Texas, he didn't go in for Wim Wenders' new flick Don't Come Knocking, about which Lisa and I are both very curious. He loved Michel Gondry's new film The Science of Sleep, and shares my penchant for its female lead, Charlotte Gainsbourg.

He agreed with Lisa on Friends with Money's high quality even if he thought it lacked a certain luster, and was as impressed as I with Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance in Sherrybaby. Meanwhile, Bálint's opinion of the dubiously titled The Hawk Is Dying was decidedly low. After lunch (and the inevitable biz card exchange), we went our separate ways, but I have a feeling he's going to turn up again...