SAN FRANCISCO

Twenty Two Years of Friis-ing Awesome Friendship

The Friis-Gould friendship began many moons ago in the glamorous Fillmore / Tenderloin district of San Funkcisco in the late 1990’s. The young women became fast friends at San Francisco International Film Festival working for publicist Hilary Hart. During long, luxurious cigarette breaks on the pavement surrounded by drug addicts and urine, the two young Europeans sealed their friendship with clever banter and a love for wit that they would appreciate in each other for the rest of their lives. After SFIFF they continued working together in the bougie city of Mill Valley at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Marlene worked in the programming department under the watchful eye of ex-pat, Cannes connoisseur, Zoe Elton. Here, cigarette breaks took place under majestic redwoods and on walks to the quaint Mill Valley Market to buy English digestive biscuits. Unfortunately, the details of those days are now a blur, but some key points include the Kabuki Theater, Eddy Street, a Vespa, Peets coffee, the Depot, Mark Fishkin, and the Throckmorton Theater. Marlene and Jane were working their tails off for peanuts, but having the time of their lives. They were surrounded by cool film types, had no responsibilities, and were partying at weekends like it was 1999. One illegal warehouse rave of note they attended was in a massive old building in a neglected area of SF. Again, the details are gone, but KLF’s 3 am Eternal, and The Orb’s Little Fluffy Clouds were featured in the soundtrack… While Marlene and Jane were hanging at film festivals, Michael was preparing to open the restaurant to end all restaurants in the Mission, the one and only Foreign Cinema. FC cannot be talked about without mentioning the epic opening night. Specifically, the Burning Man female drummers dancing on the tables

and the conservative suits wondering what on earth they’d invested in, and secretly loving it.

It is a mammoth task to squeeze twenty plus years of Marlene magic into a short article. (Are you aware that Marlene created a friendzine? It was a small magazine that rotated editors and contributors who were hand-picked friends of hers. It didn’t have a long life, but was fabulous while it was alive..) But one particular time that I will always treasure is when Marlene visited me one summer in England. She had been at home in Denmark to visit her family, and I was at home visiting mine. She came to England and basically took out a second mortgage to buy a British Rail train ticket from London to Rugby. (Booking in advance is key!). Marlene and I had a brilliant day sitting in my parent’s tranquil and idyllic cottage garden, as bumble bees buzzed from flower to flower. Pimms must have been served, as it always is there, and we went to the extremely famous Rugby Football Museum. Marlene was also incredibly blessed to be taken to the actual field where the legendary William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran, and where Rugby football began.

There are numerous other things I could write about, such as the Hecht-Friis wedding of the century, or my amazing weekend in New Orleans with them. But alas, my word limit is up. To conclude, to me, one of the most significant signs of a friendship is traveling with or to see friends which we’ve done numerous times over the years. Another is being able to pick-up exactly where you left off, which we do with brilliant ease.

Marlene is truly one of the most wonderful and brilliant human beings, and I am honored to be her friend. – JANE GOULD, NAPA