BBC Documentaries

Meet Jim, Citizen of the World (2019x174)

: 17, 2019

The captivating story of Jim Haynes, an extraordinary 83-year-old man who grabbed with heart and soul the spirit of the 60s and continued to carry it throughout his life. He dined with The Beatles and shacked up with the Rolling Stones. He rubbed shoulders with soul diva Mama Cass, folk troubadour Leonard Cohen and a fledgling Pink Floyd. He was a figurehead for a new generation of playwrights. After he was stopped at Munich airport with a bag full of blank ‘world passports’, he lectured bewildered German border police about the virtues of 'world government'. Today, at 83, Jim Haynes just won’t slow down. This ‘godfather of social networking’ organises open dinners every Sunday night in the Parisian artist studio that has been his home for the past 50 years. Total strangers, unknown both to him and to each other, meet in his living room and Jim’s friends show up to cook cheerfully for crowds of 60 or more. It’s simple: you sign up, you come over, you meet Jim. As he once said: 'My home is a world government embassy that never closes'. Meeting Jim composes an impressionistic portrait of Jim Haynes the man and the cultural phenomenon, as seen by the many and diverse people whose lives have been touched by his. The film is a hymn to the lasting spirit of the 60s, an inspirational living proof of how we can all choose to live on the bright side. To Jim, the choice is ready-made: 'Life is short. We have a duty to enjoy ourselves'