Greetings from Athens - to anyone who has read this far! No, I am not Greek, just chose to live in Greece because I could. There are a few downsides - foreign films having sub-titles in Greek being one!!

I have watched Bollywood films in Bombay, where I once lived for 6 months. I have watched Kung Fu films in the Southern Philippines - I suspect as many as Tarantino - as they were usually the support feature for any movie shown, and films changed almost daily. Filipinos have an unquenchable thirst for the movies. The downside there was having to sit with your feet off the floor as it was not unknown for the odd rat to scuttle past.

Films have always been for me a temptation, a delight, an escape, a discovery and a way of unwinding. I am not averse to the odd block-buster, but a film about teachers carrying their own blackboards around the bleak landscapes of the Middle-East has been known to keep me up to the 'wee small hours'.

My first 'foreign film' was The Seven Samurai - which has remained a firm favourite. Bicycle Thieves came shortly after and the excesses of Fellini shaped my film going of my student years. Indian Cinema for me has been dominated by the extraordinary Satyajit Ray: Pather Panchali (1955) has many scenes that pop back into mind years since I last saw the film.

Living in London (before family commitments shaped my life) gave access to the ICA cinema (go to it if you are there). Here it was possible to see three films at one visit - eye-straining bliss. And it was in this club environment I saw some of the best political cinema - originating in South America. The joy of seeing the Motor-Cycle Diaries recently reminded me of how good that sub-continent can be at crafting a captivating tale.

Discovering Jaman is like finding the sweetie-jar and being encouraged to dip in again and again. Bliss.