Where the Hell is Matt? 2012

Thanks, Jen243!

Matt just did an AMA on reddit and someone asked him about the dancers in Syria. Here's what he said:

"It was a sticky issue that I agonized over for months as I watched the news in Syria get worse and worse. I filmed those clips back in July of 2010, about 6 months before the Arab Spring.

At the time, the dancers were fine with appearing in the video. When things turned bad, I was unsure whether contacting them would put them in jeopardy, and I couldn't find any other way to reach out to them.

In the end, I decided to use the footage but keep them thoroughly blurred for their safety.

I made the decision not to cut the footage out, because it spoke so directly to what the video is about for me.

To be clear, it's not a matter of religious conservatism. As I understand it, Syria is relatively liberal about things like men and women dancing together. It's more of a political issue. Their government is just killing people willly nilly at this point."

My guess is, the way things are today in Syria, being recognized dancing with a westerner might be dangerous. The blurring was most likely requested by the participants.

So what's with the censoring in Syria?

If people can dance together, then they can do anything together. I wish we would wise up.

Deserve a Nobel for peace!

Tears. Heartache and hope. What a beautiful world it can be.

Well as cynical as the internetz made me, i couldn't help but cry watching this Matt Harding video. He is on his way to link people across the world better than a lot of treaties and diplomatic agreements could achieve. I guess he's proving we are all the same humans.

What a most splendid piece!