I went to Banff for the UAAC conference in October. I went there to talk about  the adaptation of Dutch Golden Age painting into cinema – that’s Rembrandt, Vermeer, de Hooch and so on.  Not only the lighting styles of those paintings, but also their compositions, have greatly informed cinema.

The conference was great and I met some really interesting people, including painter Adrian Gor whose work you might like to take a look at.

Foe me though, the best thing was going up into the mountains I had been to Banff in the summer, in 2008, but not on the cusp of winter and it was visually majestic.

I understand why the philosopher Heidegger stayed up the mountain… it really helps you think. Walking alone in the grounds of the Banff Centre for the Arts, and around the riverside Central Park, spotting wildlife – and of course SOAKING IN THE HOT SPRINGS – my thoughts came together in new, clear and fascinating ways.