July 25, YouTube invites you to be part of a historic global documentary

YouTube launches a new global participatory feature film produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.

To participate, on July 25th you will have to resume your day and tell what is important to you in this 2020.

"On July 25, 2020, resume your day: you could become part of a historic documentary of global reach, produced by Ridley Scott, directed by Kevin Macdonald and shot by you. Get ready to participate."

Here is the YouTube invitation to all users for a global operation that reaches 0 years after the first experiment of this kind.

2020 is a year that will go down in history. From forest fires in Australia to civil unrest in Hong Kong. From the pandemic that destroyed so many precious lives and transformed the way we live to the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement that have inflamed every corner of the United States (and the world). Each event has contributed to making it an historic year.

However, in the midst of these extraordinary events, everyday life continues to move forward. And we continue to share it online.

"Let's dance. We laugh. We cry. We love. We are afraid. Let's hope. What if we capture all these moments and feelings in one day? ".

The YouTube project is simple: Saturday 25 July 2020, resume your day and upload your movie, you could become part of this time capsule of the year 2020.

How to participate

Participation is open to all and the contents sent from every corner of the planet will be woven together to make a feature film produced by Ridley Scott, directed by Kevin Macdonald and also shot by you, which will be previewed at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Registration will open on July 25th and close on August 2nd.

The first experiment in 2010

As early as 2010, tens of thousands of people had picked up their video camera to respond to the invitation to show their day.

With over 80,000 clips sent from 189 countries, Life in One Day had become the largest participatory film project ever made. Kevin Macdonald and his team made a 90-minute feature film from the 4,500 hours of footage that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and on YouTube, receiving more than 16 million views in the meantime.

What to tell YouTube

The idea is to repeat this experiment in this very particular year: on July 25, take your video camera or your smartphone and resume your day.

You could record your typical day with work, family and friends or share a special event, such as your wedding day, important new arrivals or the birth of a baby. You could show your gradual return to normal or something you're struggling for.

Alternatively, you may decide to film a person you find interesting and immortalize all of their July 25th.

The invitation is to start from these four questions:

• What do you care about?
• What are you afraid of?
• What would you like to change in the world or in your life?
• What do you take with you this year?

The most important thing is to give a personal testimony. Share what matters to your eyes, because this is your movie.

Registration will be open from July 25th to August 2nd. When registration closes, a team of researchers and editors will review the clips received. If your movie will be used in the final version of the movie, we will contact you later in the year.

YouTube also provides a number of technical guidelines and advice for filming, which you can read here.

Meanwhile, you can relate to the 2010 project to find inspiration.