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.

This was a sentiment which resonated with me deeply. At the time, I was in the penultimate year of my undergraduate degree, and I realised that my time at university was quickly slipping by. I made a silent promise to myself to be more present, to cherish every moment and appreciate the people who I shared them with.

It was this silent promise that served as the inspiration for this project. I had a sense that one day, my friends and I would look back on this period in our lives with nostalgia. I wanted to capture this feeling, by filming moments from my life, small and large. On a whim, I convinced my younger sister to let me borrow her digital camera (it was really our mum’s old camera), and I went through the year, trying to take videos whenever I could.

After much condensing, this is the result! I hope you enjoy.