This is undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous videos we’ve seen so far about the lockdowns, as seen through the eyes of spoken word artist Kai-Isaiah Jamal and filmmaker Emily McDonald. With a cameo of ‘Please Believe These Days Will Pass’ by Mark Titchner.
“I have awoke into enough mornings of the same, to enough passing days to have gathered a hunger for change,” Kai-Isaiah Jamal says in the opening of “This Now”, an original poem and short film about our collective time in isolation. As the spoken word artist speaks, the visuals cycle through a compilation of self-shot mobile phone footage from over 40 people currently in self-isolation. We see open windows and peeking faces, walks through high-rise blocks and rural thickets, dinners by candlelight, empty London streets.
Across the poem, Kai reflects on our time in coronavirus quarantine, the lessons learned in valuing IRL connections and human touch, the moments of interconnectivity we’ve found, despite the world’s pain, distance and uncertainty, with the URL and close quarters. “This Now” is about what we took for granted and what we cherish, what we’ll shed in a post-pandemic life and what we’ll take into the future. With filmmaker Emily McDonald, the collaborators offer a hopeful message of unity despite the now, the political and social turbulence. When we emerge, there’s a fire for change: “Careless is a word I’m removing from my throat”.
Please watch, enjoy and get inspired.
First published on dazeddigital.com as part of their ‘Alone Together’ campaign.