A decade-long global journey chronicles the ever-changing record holders of the title of oldest person alive. What begins as a portrait of longevity becomes a meditation on the passage of time, the randomness of fate, and the joy and profound human experience of being alive.

The oldest human being on the planet is not someone you encounter suddenly, nor someone you know for long. As the years go by, and Sam Green meets the next, and the next, oldest person in the world, his personal fascination with what the title means becomes entangled with his own experience of time, and the joys and pains of his own life. Green’s work has been a cornerstone of documentary filmmaking for a generation of artists. With one of his most intimate films yet, he returns to the Sundance Film Festival with his unique mixture of wry wit, earnest feeling, and formal play. In The Oldest Person in the World, the profound and silly experience of being alive is articulated in a way only film can do. — SS

Also available for credentialed press and industry online (January 28–February 1)