The interactive web documentary "LIFE UNDERGROUND" is nominated for Best Short Form Series by the International Documentary Association, an underdog in his category going up against giant corporations including THE NEW YORK TIMES OP-DOCS, GUARDIAN DOCUMENTARIES, VICE on HBO, and MEL FILMS.
"LIFE UNDERGROUND" is a groundbreaking transmedia project that invites visitors on a journey through the subways of the world and into the personal stories of their passengers.
Its main component is an interactive web documentary.
"LIFE UNDERGROUND" has also become an immersive multimedia installation for museums and public spaces (including subway stations) featuring the same content but on large screens with a multi-track soundscape.
Shot in more than 17 cities, across 4 continents, in more than 11 languages, by director Hervé Cohen this interactive web documentary and immersive media installation takes viewers on a journey into the subways of the world through the personal stories of passengers.
In Berlin, 18-year-old Amjad dreams obsessively about the family he left behind in Syria; in Los Angeles, we hear Natalya’s excitement about her recent gender change, and the beginning of her life as a woman; in Brussels, 90-year-old Lily laments about her love affair with an American soldier during WWII; in Hong Kong, Ho Pak struggles with a difficult and sometimes violent relationship with his father.
Through 50+ stories of family, migration, love, identity, ambition, and more, "LIFE UNDERGROUND" challenges notions of public and private space and reminds us that beneath the surface, we’re all connected.
Hervé Cohen is an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer and has traveled the world to capture compelling stories for international productions: from the Amazon, filming a musical poetic piece about environment, to the countryside of China, following the work of three traveling projectionists; from Senegal, capturing the initiation ceremony of a young Diola, to the entire United States, filming a family road movie during the Democratic Primaries; from Benin, Africa, and India to document the evolution of two young girls from their first day of school, to Italy and Portugal for a series of portraits of Europeans, and of course Paris (where he is originally from) filming a personal story about the exile of the Algerian Jews. He has also shot two feature narratives, in San Francisco and in Haiti (the 2017 Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film, AYITI MON AMOUR).
LIFE UNDERGROUND
