The pandemic acted like a magnifying glass on our world. Fifteen people on four continents tell their very different stories over the course of a year, creating a political and historical chronicle. More than a Corona diary, CONNECTION is a record of how our world is changing.
SYNOPSIS
CONNECTION is a personal, 4 part documentary which spans the experiences of fifteen people on four continents over the course of a year.
The film participants -- my close friends and family -- live very different lives. They are rich and unemployed, black and white, over eighty and not yet in school. They live in New York, California, Turkey, Germany and South Africa. From March 2020 to February 2021 we zoom regularly and I film these conversations. Our open and even humorous talks reflect the impact of the historical events on all of us.
As we are catapulted from one global problem to the next without any solutions, our conversations give us hope. A film about the power of connection.
Director Statement
March 2020: the Corona Virus is spreading rapidly across the planet. Our German government has asked us to stay home. I find myself in a bubble in my home in Berlin, cut off from my friends and family around the world. Reading about the pandemic in the news doesn’t satisfy me. Suddenly - and with new urgency - I need to connect. I soon discover I am not alone in feeling alone. The paradox of this pandemic is that it is both a shared, global event and at the same time a deeply divisive experience. The virus may not distinguish between groups of people but economic pressures do. Whom are they hitting hardest? Even when I am not online, I worry about my friends whose jobs are in danger or who are spending sleepless nights over job cuts they must make. I am well positioned to tell this story because of the breadth of my circle of friends and family. I grew up in a bi-national, multi racial family. My films to date all center on connections across racial and national borders. My travels and experiences provide cultural fluency and personal access to make possible this colorful, collaborative film. Climate change, political dysfunctionality, economic instability: from month to month the topics our zoom conversations cover widen from the pandemic to other pressing events. It seems our world is self-destructing. The pandemic is acting like a magnifying glass on global problems made worse by global divisions. Can we reconnect?
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director Sarah Gross
Sarah Gross is a politically engaged filmmaker, writer, and mother of three young adults.
CONNECTION is her third long-form documentary film. She studied filmmaking at Harvard University. Her first two feature docs have been broadcast internationally, and were shown in festivals around the globe.
Gross grew up in a multi-racial family in the U.S.; family and racial identity are common themes of her works. In the industry, she is an experienced 1st A.D., working on productions such as award-winning Good Bye Lenin. Her short films have won awards, and she has received MEDIA funding to develop her screenwriting. Sarah Gross has dual nationality in the U.S. and Germany.
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Women Make Movies (WMM), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization registered with the New York Charities Bureau of New York State and accepts charitable donations on behalf of this project. Your donation will be spent by the filmmaker(s) toward the production and completion of this media project. No services or goods are provided by Women Make Movies, the filmmaker(s) or anyone else associated with this project in exchange for your charitable donation.
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