Stills from National Geographic Entertainment
Life in a Day - My Kind of a Movie
If you received this via email, click here to get to the web version--might need it to see the video.
Life in a Day. The Documentary. Witness the true story of a single day on Planet Earth. Get a bird's-eye view into what was going on in the lives of ordinary people around the world on July 24, 2010.
Imagine more than 80,000 videos and 4500 hours of raw footage turned into one unexpectedly emotional 95-minute movie. Clever, don't you think? A film about "24/7", that's filmed on 7/24/10, and premieres today, 7/24/11 at 7:24 pm. A National Geographic YouTube mash-up.
The Official Selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
"A thrilling piece of cinema." FIve Stars. The Times
How people all over the world eat, sleep, pray, work and even learn to shave.
Love. Fear. Hope.
"We went for things that resonated and stories and strong characters and all the things you'd usually expect from a cinema film." Joe Walker, the film's editor.
45,000 hours of raw footage from YouTube videos submitted from folks all over the world--spliced together--reviewed by 24 researchers--who were skilled in cinematography and foreign languages.
The final cut - an unexpectedly emotional 95 minute documentary, directed by a master--Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland and State of Play)
All submissions were rated from 1-5 stars by the reviewers.
One star = "The person who made it spent less time thinking about this than we did."
Two stars = "Teenagers whining in their bedrooms to no particular affect. There were hundreds and hundreds of hours of that stuff." No surprise--most submissions were 2 stars.
Five stars = "And five stars meant if this isn't in the film, you should fire me."
What you'll see:
- "[M]ontages of ordinary acts, repeated from Japan to Dubai to Las Vegas, take on a kind of profundity: waking up, brushing teeth, making lunch." Adam Sternbergh's NYT Magazine "Around the World in a Day"
- "[B]ut the film's most memorable moments are the ones of unexpected intimacy - a man with a terminal illness, speaking from his eventual death bed, or a young gay man on the phone, coming out to his grandmother and recording his reaction to her response in real time. Adam Sternbergh's NYT Magazine "Around the World in a Day"
- “I was fully expecting a film that’s closely integrated with YouTube to cover the subjects of cats and dogs and children falling over. What was totally surprising was how generous people were about turning these brave stories over, these things very close to their hearts.” Joe Walker, the film's editor.
- "The film aims to tell the story of a planet, but it’s the vulnerability of these individual moments, contributed as part of a larger project, that lingers." NYT Magazine "Around the World in a Day"
When Can You See It?
- Today, for some lucky folks! Special Sneak Preview on July 24, 2011 at 7:24. Click here to see where.
- Regular theater release begins on July 29, 2011 in select cities.
- Check the Life in a Day website here!
Read the Adam Sternbergh's 7/24/11 (would you expect otherwise?) New York Times Magazine article, "Around the World in One Day" here.
Can't see the video? Click here
Life in a Day Preview
A Perfect Summer Sunday Dinner (or lunch or breakfast--really!)
Cold Yogurt Soup with Wheat Berries, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, & Dill
Use the 24 Ounce Container of Wildwood Unsweetened Plain Soy Yogurt
Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Mediterranean Lentil Salad with Home-Made Sprouts on a French Meadow Bakery Sprouted Grain Tortilla
My Favorite Lentil Salad
Serves 4-6
This is an old Moosewood cookbook favorite that I revised into an oil-free version.
If you have a Trader Joe's near you--their vacuum-packed Steamed French Lentils cut the prep time down to about 15 minutes--with no sacrifice to taste.
Olive Tap's Tangerine Balsamic vinegar is highly recommended.
Click here for the recipe on one page.
Click here to read what I had to say about the recipe when I first tweaked it.
Cold Yogurt Soup with Wheat Berries, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, & Dill
Click here for the recipe on one page.
Martha Rose Shulman posted her version of this on her New York Times Recipes for Health column on July 19, 2011. Click here to read Shulman's version.
It looked delicious & intrigued me, and I wondered how it would work with an unsweetened soy yogurt. Tip: Wildwood's Soy Yogurt is the only one I've seen that's really almost zero sugar!
I modified the recipe considerably. I used soy yogurt, wheat berrries, extra cucumbers, no added water & no watercress. I'm sure the watercress would be an excellent addition--but I didn't have any--and I didn't want to go to the grocery store to buy any.
BTW--it makes a fantastic breakfast!
This is quick to make, but you have to plan ahead. The wheat berries soak for an hour--and they cook for an hour. The cucumbers "marinate" for 30 minutes. And then, the whole completed soup chills for two hours. But it's all so easy to do--and uses up your garden's bounty.
My Riff on Martha's Yogurt Soup
Click here for the recipe on one page
Serves 4
1/2 cup wheat berries, preferably soaked for an hour or more and drained (don’t worry if you haven’t done this, although they make take longer to cook) Martha uses spelt, and says farro will work, too!
2 cups water (to cook the wheat berries)
Salt to taste
1 24 ounce carton of unsweetened plain soy yogurt (Wildwood unsweetened plain, preferred) (Shulman uses 1 qt. of plain low-fat or whole-milk dairy yogurt, free of gums & stabilizers)
2 ripe but firm tomatoes, cut in small dice--I used a combo of a regular tomato, with our homegrown Sweet Million cherry tomatoes. Yum!
1 1/2 cup finely chopped English cucumber (if you use a regular cuke, you'll need to seed it first)
1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), finely minced (used our homegrown garlic)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup finely chopped FRESH dill (Shulman says you can substitute with parsley, mint or cilantro--but I'm a dill fan) I used our homegrown dill.
2 tablespoons snipped chives (used our homegrown chives)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Combine the wheat berries, water and salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer about 50 minutes to an hour until tender and some of the kernels have begun to splay. Remove from the heat, drain and set aside. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Wheat berries should have a nice tooth feel.
2. While the wheat berries are cooking, place the cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Toss and place in a strainer set over the bowl. Allow to drain for 30 minutes. Rinse well, and allow to drain a bit, or blot with paper towels.
3. Combine all the ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill for two hours or longer. Serve, garnishing each bowl with a sprinkle of fresh dill & halved cherry tomatoes.
Yield: Serves four
Advance preparation: You can make this several hours to a day before serving. It will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator.
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