What if there was an opportunity to explore (in a pretty visual way) an amazing journey of our history, from the Big Bang to the point where many of us find ourselves today connected to machines? First, this is something that I have no doubt you would expect from a series like Nova. But what if this adventure in our history could be delivered in just 80 minutes?
Would you go?
My guess, after watching the trailer for the autobiography/documentary Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence directed by Tiffany Shlain and discovering this film will debut at Wealthy Theatre as a part of the new fall film series from Mars Hill's Adding Angles, is maybe you should.
Let me make my case. Sure, you could assume this is a church hosting a film to lure you in to their web. However, having attended other films they have screened, I have come to enjoy both the films and the opportunity to converse after, as is the case with their film series.
And this fits nicely into where we are today; as technology invades our social spaces more and more, films, with their gentle reminders to shut off our phones (and not perform sneaky texting or endless checking of our social spaces) are maybe one of the last places on the planet where people do actually turn off their phones to be in the moment.
While Connected is probably not the greatest film ever made on this topic – she even hired a narrator to help tie this film together, as noted in her New York Times review – the film does offer a visual assault on the senses and forces the viewer to sift through a bevy of images and ideas.
The choice of this film for community discussion is a great one and hopefully one that will inspire not just those who adhere to religion but also to those who represent the world of sciences and art. It darts back and forth between the two spheres, begging us to ask the ultimate question: What is the meaning of life?
While we all know that one film won't have the answer, let's not miss a chance, at the start of a new series devoted to connectivity and technology, to hit pause on our devices and potentially glean some insight after sitting in 80 minutes of silence from our digital buddy, who is now, for the moment, bound and gagged safely in our coat pockets.
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