Life-world Series (dir. Joni Gutierrez, 2017, 118 min.) is a collection of ten short film episodes that capture the essence of everyday life across various locations such as Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, mainland China, and the USA.
- Hong Kong: Study One (7:35, Hong Kong) — Visual and aural environment of Hong Kong taken from the continuum between the human masses to the non-living elements of the life-world.
- Study Two: Young Filipino-Hongkongers (13:49, Hong Kong) — Portrays the subjectivities of young Filipino-Hongkongers in two parts namely, direct cinema coverage and shots from interviews on their aspirations.
- Study Three: Floating Notes (13:15, Japan) — Interplays simultaneous interjections of titles, still photographs and asynchronous sound - all drawn from empirical perceptual experience - to cinematically render the modern condition.
- Study Four: Resilient Textures (20:15, Vietnam) — Contemplation on the shared patterns and textures between nature and spiritually inspired art.
- Study Five: 雨 (Rain) (14:01, Hong Kong) — A cinematic meditation on rain, this piece poignantly follows the arrival, presence, departure and aftermath of a storm in the city. Inspired by Regen (Joris Ivens, 1929)
- Study Six: Return Home (14:00, Indonesia & Hong Kong) — Quotidian travel footage interweaving with still shots outside the main route complicate the rational concept of final destination.
- Study Seven: The Street (7:12, Hong Kong) — Simultaneously playing multiple screens highlight the cinematic medium's affinity with movement and – as seen in this panoramic mosaic form – the flow of life.
- Study Eight: Intercity (12:16, Mainland China & USA) — Alternating shots taken from two cities thousands of miles apart and sequenced from the mundane to the transcendent invoke a trance-like unpacking of the essence of city life.
- Study Nine: Yard Life (6:00, USA) — The wind, which is invisible but cinematic, invokes the animated life-world without having to show humans and animals - only their artefacts, which also 'breathe life'.
- Study Ten: Under the Bridge (9:04, USA) — With an evocative piece by Beethoven in the background, this cinematic experience of meaningful formations in nature fosters insight on the ever-expansive life-world in which conceptual rationality is only one of the many elements.
This anthology was part of my Ph.D. dissertation. Even after completing my doctorate, I have remained dedicated to the Life-world Series Project, continually creating new short films under its umbrella. These films, which expand on the themes and perspectives explored in the original series, are available on YouTube. I hope they provide viewers with moments of reflection and a renewed appreciation for the beauty within the ordinary aspects of life.
