Forces of time, memory, change, and the human condition collide in this compelling work. The title refers to the historical time when the world watched as Mekas's home country of Lithuania fought for independence from the stronghold of Soviet rule. Comprised of four chapters with a total running time of 4 hours and 46 minutes, it is a chronological overview of Lithuania's birth as an independent nation.

With a handheld video camera, Mekas recorded newscasts that played daily from 1989 to 1991 on his television set at home. Footage includes reports of the Soviet Union's use of 'aggressive actions' that called for Lithuania to back down, freedom demonstrations, interviews and statements made by top politicians, journalists, analysts, as well as moving portraits of the Lithuanian people who were directly affected by the conflict. Mekas's account, reported by news outlets in the United States, also reveals the shaping and shifting of political, economic, and social relations between Eastern Europe and the West at the time.

“The video is made up of footage that I took with my Sony from the television newscasts during the collapse of the USSR, with the home noises in the background. It's a capsule of record of what happened and how it happened during that crucial period as recorded by the television newscasters. It can be viewed as a classic Greek drama in which the destinies of nations are changed drastically by the unbending, bordering on irrational will of one single man (Vytautas Landsbergis), one small nation determined to regain its freedom, backed by its fight against the Might & Power, against the Impossible.” Jonas Mekas