AROUND THE WORLD IN ONE DAY: THE 11ELEVEN PROJECT

A passionate, humanitarian filmmaker is set to launch a multi-media vision of one day in the life cycle of Planet Earth.

A select number of screening venues worldwide will open their doors to a very special simultaneous event this Sunday, November 11. One year to the day after submissions closed for The 11Eleven Project, filmmaker Danielle Lauren (pictured, above) will present her 75 minute documentary; it is a work that encapsulates the global human experience during a singularly unremarkable but, by definition, utterly unique 24 hour period in mankind’s history.

“It was just an idea that if we got people to just tell their own stories we will probably learn more, rather than trying to project a version of their world from our points-of-view,” says Lauren, preparing for the global roll-out of her film from her base in Sydney. The scope of the endeavour covers a multi-media landscape of music, photography, personal device technology and visual art unlike anything to date; the documentary is but one component of a movement determined to create a worldwide community via imagery, connection and understanding.

“I think when something is expressed from the heart it penetrates and reaches another heart and audiences are human beings and have reacted to that. That is what most excited me about this job,” Lauren explains. Despite her youthful looks, Lauren has a wealth of international philanthropic experience; currently the Australian Ambassador for the Charter for Compassion, she has consulted for Australians for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as taking on production roles on such small-screen successes as ‘I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here’ and ‘Australian Idol’.

Having established a reputation in a field defined by the skilful ability to communicate, it was the absence of the traditional spoken-word paradigm that most surprised Lauren. “I like that so much can be communicated above language. That we could go on this big journey and meet all these characters and fall in love and that they are real people,” she explains of her filmmaking odyssey, which took in submissions from 179 countries. “I hope that through the film and through the Facebook and Twitter links we are able to have and continue to have a global conversation.”

Originally conceived in 2000 (“At the time the technology did not exist to make it happen, not the way that it exists today,” says Lauren), The 11Eleven Project has ballooned into a conscientious movement towards a more humanistic existence. With sell-out events in 20 countries confirmed, Danielle Lauren is now looking for the next wave of socially-minded camera-wielding activists to carry the 11Eleven torch. “If I knew I had to do it again, or felt obliged to do it again, I don’t think you could give the same 100% commitment. Someone, anyone else is welcome to pick up a 12/12/12 project and run with it,” she says.

The 11Eleven Project debuts in several sites Australia-wide this Sunday, November 11; it will also screen in USA, UK, Fiji, France, Chile, Ghana, Greece, Germany, El Salvador, Japan, Madagascar, Morocco, The Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain and Ukraine, with more participating nations to be announced. Information regarding community screening initiatives are available via the website.