Photo: (XOXOSMS Film)
Imagine falling in love with someone who lives thousands of miles away, before you’ve ever had a single face-to-face conversation with them. That’s what happened to Jiyun and Gus. Their love story is captured in xoxosms, a new documentary by Nancy Schwartzman, the documentarian/activist behind The Line, which addressed the question of what happens to consent when you’re already in bed with someone.
The short film (14 minutes long) tells the story of Jiyun, a NYC art student, and Gus, a small-town boy from Illinois, as they meet online and Skype and email their way into a totally adorable love story. Most aww-worthy of all, it follows them as they meet in person for the very first time.
Think it sounds perfect for a Valentine’s Day date? Perfect timing – xoxosms is premiering online tomorrow, starting at 1pm ET, and will be streaming continuously on Ustream for 24 hours. At 6pm ET, they’ll be hosting a panel discussion on dating in the digital era with relationship experts and writers like Lena Chen, Melissa Gira Grant, and Feministing’s Samhita Mukhopadhyay.
Of course, we don’t recommend talking to any old person online. Make sure you take precautions to verify that your boo is really who you think he or she is – otherwise, you might end up like our fave girl Lisa from (DIS)CONNECTED. For resources, check out A THIN LINE.