DVD Review: Life in a day

Written by Elka Schaimberg
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 10:59

DIRECTOR: KEVIN MACDONALD

STARRING: CINDY BAER, HIROAKI AIKAWA AND MOICA

 
This very poignant documentary shows glimpses of a number of real people’s lives on a single day. Presented by National Geographic and YouTube, the project began as an open call on the video-sharing website for people’s experiences around the world on 24 July 2010. The result: 80 000 submissions and 4 500 hours of footage from 192 countries. Carefully selected scenes were then woven together to create the first ever crowd-sourced documentary.

The film is ultimately about human connection and affirms the simple joys and sorrows that we experience as human beings. A true mosaic of just one day reveals life at its rawest – thrilling, funny, sad, breathtaking and mundane all at the same time! The mishmash of highly personal, inane, and fascinating clips include, among many, a skydiver freefalling, a young man coming out to his family, a globetrotting Korean man travelling the world by bicycle, an elderly couple having their vows renewed by an Elvis impersonator and more. It’s really the small details that make this film so compelling.

The film echoes our innate desire to connect, to be understood, and to be a part of something meaningful. It manages to transcend religion, culture, age and gender to get to the heart of what it means to be a human being. If nothing else, it’s an amazing time capsule for future generations.