Thin Line Film Fest - “Meantime: GMT 1400 April 4 2004”

Dir: Deborah Magocsi
Prd: Deborah Magocsi

TRT: 74 min

This project began when I reached out to everyone I knew and asked them to spread the word, inviting people to shoot a piece of footage at the same moment in time around the world. On April 3rd 2004, 135 people turned on their cameras for ten minutes to capture their lives and surroundings. MEANTIME documents this moment – a showcase of the beauty, humor, ideas and cultures of the human race and planet Earth. Everything you see in this film is drawn from their contributions. Not only the imagery, but all the sound and music as well.

Since I live in Brooklyn, the message spread from New York City as its center to literally all over the world. The resulting footage reflects this 'viral' process, with substantial representation from New York where it is noon on April 3rd, but with pieces as far-reaching as China where it is 1AM, New Zealand where it is 5AM, and the Northern Marianna Islands, where it is 4AM -- the next day.

All the people who took part in this project made the small leap of faith that at the same time in other places, others were making the same leap. This is the spirit that animates MEANTIME. It’s not the fact (as fascinating as it is) that the world is an infinitely varied place, but that within this infinite variation, the human spirit strives to express and to connect. By turns hypnotic, captivating, and amusing, MEANTIME truly brings these ideas to life.