A film that’s stuck with me since I watched it is Wim Wender’s Perfect Days. Perfect Days follows Hirayama, a janitor in Tokyo, through his monotonous, unchanging daily routine. Despite this seemingly simplistic lifestyle, Hirayama appears (on the surface at least) deeply contented.

The film serves as a meditation on the importance of being present. Hirayama is present for every small moment of his day; he takes pleasure in watching the sunlight filter through the trees, in the books he reads, and in caring for his Bonsai trees.

Having recently started a PhD, I’ve been experimenting with ways of taking notes. I was searching for a method of organising papers I’ve read, to accrue a library that I can come back to as needed. I also needed a way to associate notes with these papers. I had certain requirements of any potential solution:

The train of thought that culminated in this project set off when my good friend (Rish) sent me a list compiled by the New York Times of the “100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”. Scrolling through the list idle mindedly, I picked out the films which I’d seen, silently agreeing with the list for including them. However, when given more thought, I started to wonder the methodology behind this ranking.