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The Approach

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MIND THE GAP operates as a cultural platform where authorship extends beyond making, into selection, framing, and narrative intent.

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Running Against Time already existed as an independent film when it came to MTG’s attention. What drew it into the platform was alignment rather than scale. A quiet, human story that challenged dominant narratives around ageing and productivity.

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Through MTG, the film was repositioned from a standalone documentary into a cultural statement that asks what it means to live forward, even in later chapters of life.

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Why This Film

Nakaoji’s story sits at the intersection of age, movement, and mindset. Living in Okinawa, a region globally associated with longevity, he runs daily not to compete but to participate. His belief that youth is not a time of life but a state of mind encapsulates the spirit of the Age Appropriate series.

For MTG, the film resonated because it resists instruction. It does not offer optimisation or performance. Instead, it centres presence, ritual, and play.

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Editorial Framing

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MTG developed the surrounding editorial narrative, shaping how the film is experienced and understood. The work was framed as a meditation on movement as a lifeline, a counterforce to both physical and mental atrophy.

In addition to narrative framing, MTG worked with the director to select and release previously unseen stills created specifically for the platform, extending the film’s world beyond the moving image.

Lockett’s personal relationship to movement informed this framing. Following the early passing of his father, he travelled to Okinawa seeking insight into longevity beyond lifespan alone. Encountering Nakaoji shifted the film’s focus from documentation toward reflection.

“After my father’s early passing, I decided to go to Okinawa. I was introduced to Shimei Nakaoji, a vibrant and philosophical 87 year old man who runs every day in a quiet personal quest to reverse ageing. Nakaoji san reminded me that longevity isn’t just about adding years to life, but life to years.”
Alex Lockett

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Outcome

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Released as part of MTG’s Age Appropriate series, Running Against Time stands as an example of curatorial authorship, where value is created not through production ownership but through intention, context, and placement.

By bringing the film into the MTG ecosystem and accompanying it with previously unreleased imagery developed exclusively for the platform, the work was positioned within a wider cultural conversation around ageing, vitality, and momentum. It reaches audiences who may feel it is too late to begin again.

Running Against Time is not about outrunning age.
It is about refusing to stop moving.

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