One (Perfect) Day on Earth: tell the world’s story

When UNICEF USA agreed to take part in One Day on Earth – the 24 hour event taking place worldwide on 11/11/11 – it seemed like a great opportunity to advocate for children to be front and center in this moving picture of the earth in one day.  But then, as I began to review the videos and images sent in for last year’s event on 10/10/10, I realized that children are by nature front and center on the earth on any given day.

From the Philippines to Ukraine and from Brazil to Nepal, the filmmakers who sought to capture a moment put children in the frame. Some captured the bliss of childhood. Others – the inequities. But even those who reported on child labor could find beauty in what they created.

Without a doubt, my favorite is this one, which may be a portrait of a people – but you see the child in the old and young alike.

One Day on Earth is a video movement and a community of over 22,000 people who are most united on the single day when they document their world and share it in a geo-tagged online archive. The images collected last year are being collected in a feature film which will be screened at the United Nations and in every country.

This year, on 11/11/11,  be a filmmaker! Be a documentarian! Be an advocate for children. Join One Day on Earth and agree to film for Child Welfare.

And don’t forget to join the U.S. Fund for UNICEF group to tell us what One Perfect Day on Earth looks like for a child.