Le Rock et le Roll

Maybe – but only maybe – when Bellaire’s Gail Reaben received an 8 mm Kodak camera for Christmas in 1954, she dreamed of going to exotic film festivals. Well, now she is going to one – Cannes, the most glamorous of them all – and it’s all because of that 8 mm camera. Reaben documented the life and times of Bellaire teens in the `50s and has put together a short called Be Bop Babies. And she’s taking it to Cannes, where it will be shown in the Short Film Corner this month.

Reaben, who worked for a while as a model in New York, rediscovered the movie footage recently and put together the 17-minute film. The Houston Chronicle provided the money quote, from reviewer Louis B. Parks: “This short has more genuine energy that a dozen Hollywood teen movies.”

Raising the money for Cannes wasn’t easy, but Reaben came up with a couple of grand and scored a hotel room.

Now she’ll simply have to send out invites to Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese, who will both be in town to premiere the new Rolling Stones documentary.

“Think I’d prefer Scorsese over Jagger!” she says, ever the budding filmmaker. – Richard Connelly