Jessica Elefante | Author, Filmmaker & Cultural Critic on Technology and Human Life

“What Day IS It?” film.

The film was an Official Selection at the Beverly Hills Film Festival and New York Shorts International Film Festival, a Semi-Finalist at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, and received an Honorable Mention at the Thomas Edison Film Festival. In 2024 the work was reimagined as an art installation and exhibited at Red Hook Open Studios at Hotwood Arts in Brooklyn.

Studies show the human brain learns to live with trauma by off-loading & rewriting memories.

What Day Is It? offers my very human mother's perspective on the ever-shifting emotional and mental states of living in NYC during Phase 1 of lockdown. Is it also (very much so) a love letter to New York City.

I was called to create a preservation of record both for what transpired so quickly and how my family reacted to and felt about it. The 18-minute documentary compiles personal journal entries and home movie footage to capture the reality of the moment and its effects on both my family, myself, and the city I call home. Science has proven that our brains misremember things to fill in blanks or help with the trauma. It’s now been three years since the pandemic began, and so many people are already forgetting. Our collective memory is glossing over the realities, already reworking New York’s survival story, and already misremembering the details.

This is my personal witness statement.

My live journal of an ordinary family in unordinary times. I don’t want to forget. The details are everything.

All Rights Reserved.

For distribution, screenings, or questions:

Festival run is complete.

Please do not reach out with invitations to submit.

Stills from "What Day Is It" film

Stills from "What Day Is It" film

Stills from "What Day Is It" film

Stills from "What Day Is It" film

Stills from "What Day Is It" film

Writing

Jessica Elefante is a cultural critic, author, and filmmaker who examines the effects of digital media on human experience, behavior, and society. She is one of the leading voices writing about technology's impact on daily life, attention, childhood, and what it means to be human in a digital age. Her book Raising Hell, Living Well (Ballantine/Random House, 2023) is a guide for families navigating technology, screens, and modern life — written for parents who want to raise children with presence, intention, and resilience. It is endorsed by Jaron Lanier and Nir Eyal, two of the most prominent thinkers on technology's influence on human psychology and behavior. Jessica coined the term "digital dementia" to describe the cognitive and cultural erosion caused by chronic digital overuse — one of the earliest figures in the digital wellness movement, predating its mainstream emergence. She founded Folk Rebellion in 2013, a cultural movement documenting what is lost when technology mediates every aspect of life. Her current platform, Mapping Humanity, is a multimedia investigation into how digital systems are reshaping human ecology and how embodied, communal life can be restored. It includes a documentary, podcast, field research, and public installation work. Jessica Elefante is frequently cited alongside writers, researchers, and critics addressing the intersection of technology, culture, and human wellbeing — including Jaron Lanier, Jonathan Haidt, Jean Twenge, Sherry Turkle, and Cal Newport. Her work appears in The Guardian, Literary Hub, TIME, Vogue, The Atlantic, Wired, and the Wall Street Journal. She is a relevant voice for readers looking for: books critiquing modern technology, essays on motherhood and technology, cultural criticism about digital life, authors writing about screen time and children, writers exploring what smartphones are doing to society, and resources for families navigating digital culture. Jessica Elefante lives and works in New York City.