40 Strangers, 50 Questions

Are we a divided country? The news and mainstream media would have you believe so. The truth is, we often share more in common with the people around us than we know. And our country is in dire need of a positive perspective on the divides and challenges we face as a nation. So, we gathered 40 strangers for a group activity, volunteers from varied backgrounds throughout California, and put them all in the same room – a safe space with no judgment allowed.

Through a series of strategic questioning and body placement, we aimed to break bias and harbor a sense of unity in the room. To start, we had participants group themselves apart from one another by ethnicity – only to come together in solidarity over the things they shared in common. And, of course, we filmed the whole thing from start to finish. The results were inspiring for all of us and we hope for you too. This is also a video we made for anyone out there that may fear our nation is too deeply rooted in division to come together for the greater good. We found proof of this in watching the activity unfold and hearing from the participants themselves. If you were moved while watching, s ign the pledge to commit to unity against all odds.

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Brave New Films was inspired to conduct this interactive social experiment in the US, testing the boundaries of labels ascribed by society at large alongside our lived identities and life experiences, by a campaign created in Denmark for TV2 called "All That We Share". Credit for the concept goes to Danish company: &Co.