Looking Back to Move Forward: A Review of ‘Meanwhile’

Do you remember the year 2020? Yes, I am asking you to return to one of the many recent ‘unprecedented times’ – but bear with me. Try to recall the sustained feeling of purgatory-type tension of never knowing if that ‘moment’ would be forever. One hopeful thing that stood out from that time was the uptick in collaborative works. Across every medium and genre, being forced to be separate forced us to find meaningful ways to work together. This sets the stage for Aubin Pictures’ Meanwhile, a multimedia docu-poem in six parts, “…about breathing through chaos.” An effort spread across time and space with renowned author Jacqueline Woodson holding the text, musician and luminary Meshell Ndegeocello designing the soundscape, producer and media executive Erika Dilday providing creative and fiscal support for the project, interdisciplinary media artist M. Trevino giving structure to the project, all under the direction of Catherine Gund. Meanwhile is a genreless piece of visual and textual poetry that moves between a series of testimonials exploring American existentialism. The ‘in-between-ness’ of it all stirs a lot from anyone who was paying attention to current events during the 2020 to 2022 political landscape. Somehow, Meanwhile takes the heady and cerebral assessment of the country at large and turns it into a deeply emotional and heartfelt tapestry. I have never wanted to return to this time, the murders, the strife, discord, and disturbance. But this film snatches you back …