One World Interactive
The augmented reality screening will be part of the festival One World 2023 Prague.
On the Morning You Wake (to the End of The World) / Arnaud Colinart, Pierre Zandrowicz, Mike Brett, Steve Jaminson / France, UK, USA / 42 min / English, French, German – “Ballisic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill” On January 13, 2018, just after 8:00 am, the 1.4 million inhabitants of Hawaii received this message. Although no attack took place that day, it was the first sign of impending danger. In this innovative three-chapter VR documentary, the viewers walk through a landscape visually inspired by the structure of the atom. The real protagonists are transformed into a 3D environment using a unique photogrammetric method, and talk about their experiences. The viewers see a local society on the verge of collapse. Could they have defended themselves? Or would they have just had to wait helplessly for the end of the world?
Lou / Annick Daigneault, Martine Asselin / Canada / 14 min. / English, French – “They always say that Lou has been living in his own bubble,” his mother says, as she watches her son study a tiny detail on the living room floor with interest. In this animated interactive VR project, the viewers gain a glimpse into his bubble, at least for a while. Lou has lived with autism since birth. The viewers experience situations when Lou has a panic attack or an episode of aggression, when he is too upset to understand his friend’s words, or when he calms himself down by loudly slamming objects. The project is divided into two parts, showing the boy’s life during childhood and adolescence and how he and those around him come to terms with his difference.
Plastisapiens / Edith Jorisch, Miri Chekhanovich / Canada, Israel / 15 min. / English – By breathing, drinking water, and eating food, people take in microplastics that alter their DNA. What would happen if plastic replaced most of their DNA? This futuristic VR experience transforms human body into a whole new entity. A meditative voice permeating tissues tells how the cycle of life turned even dinosaurs into oil, i.e. plastic, and that there is nothing at all wrong with this process. The authors of this provocative VR project view transformation into plastic people with an almost satirical calm. All the more reason to ask the question – do we really want to end up like octopuses tangled in our own plastic tentacles?
Darkening / Ondřej Moravec / Czech Republic / 25 min. / Czech, English, German – Director Ondřej Moravec has been battling depression since childhood. He has lent not only his feelings and memories but also his voice to the character of the boy who guides us through this interactive animated story. And the voice is a magical tool that helps face the demons and simultaneously allows the audience to influence the action. With the help of “pssst”, it’s possible to stop the parents quarrelling on the other side of the wall of the children’s room; with the voice, it’s possible to delve deeper into the protagonist’s soul. He takes the viewers on a long journey, during which he discovers how to cope with illness and free himself from unpleasant feelings.
El Helicoide Historical Memory Museum / Victor Navarro, Victoria Marcano / Venezuela, Argentina / 30 min. / English, Spainish – In the beginning it was a spectacular project. El Helicoide was intended to become one of the largest department stores in Venezuela. But the pyramid-shaped structure in the middle of Caracas eventually found another purpose. It has become a prison, especially for political prisoners who have stood up to the undemocratic regime of President Nicolás Maduro. The public is strictly forbidden to enter the building. The project’s authors have therefore decided to create a virtual museum, in which they use former prisoners to reveal what goes on behind the walls of El Helicoide. Sculptures depicting the guards’ brutality are interspersed with realistic models of filthy cells. How is it possible to finally escape the labyrinth of this morass that symbolizes the suffering of the whole country?
The Shape of Us / Niki Smit / Germany, Netherlands / 20 min. / English, German – It all starts in a circle around the fire, where Mother Earth speaks to the viewers. They gradually pass through several scenes showing how far humans have devastated the planet – on the arid land there are dead trees, bones of extinct animals, and oil barrels. Using minimalist design, the project’s authors guide the viewes through a virtual post-apocalyptic desert, but they also take them back to a time when the Earth was still alive. In the VR project, the viewers engage their whole bodies to make the landscape come alive – by touching the floor, dancing, or mimicking the positions of their avatars. Can humans reconnect with the Earth and return its power?
Endless / Wojciech Puś / Poland / 18 min. / English, Polish, Ukrainian – It’s past dawn, in an apartment inhabited by several figures. They are frozen in time, frozen in the movements they were making. They look at each other, caress each other, sleep, masturbate with VR helmets on their faces. In one magical moment, they come to life and start a languidly intoxicating party. In Wojciech Puś’s essayistic 360° film, the viewers follow several people of different genders and ethnic identities as they navigate a path through night, life, desire, and futility. Fragments of their stories are only fleetingly revealed in poetic speeches that resemble a verbal symphony rather than a narrative. The director builds the experience on hallucinogenic light work and uncomfortable camera movements. Will this party ever end, or have the viewers found themselves trapped with the characters in a labyrinth of existence that has no end?
Control Negative / Monika Masłoń / Poland / 25 min. / English – Monika Masłoń opens up before the viewers a labyrinth of the mind that seems to have no end. In simple black-and-white scenes, she takes them into situations that evoke anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Through ingenious and original interactions, she plays with their minds and their compulsive need to control everything – be it simple puzzles or the inability to move time, which seems to be frozen. Her VR essay is a commentary on the human obsession with being in control of one’s life at all times. What would it be like to step out of this prison for a while and let be carried away on waves of “not having to”?
This Is Not a Ceremony / Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon) / Canada / 21 min. / English – The viewers are in an arena. For a while, it looks like a circus act is about to commence. A fiery bison runs through the space and two clowns with long braids in red suits come in. They welcome the viewers to a stage where symbols associated with the culture of the indigenous people come to life. But they also tell the stories of people who have experienced the cruelty of unremitting racism first-hand. The project combines social issues with the colourful spiritual life of the indigenous people of North America in a uniquely visual way. Reality mixes with fantasy, humour with tragedy, folklore with a crazy circus. And as the guides themselves say: “This is not a ceremony; this is reality.”
All Unsaved Progress Will Be Lost / Mélanie Courtinat / France / 10 min. / English – What would it look like if we were to compose a visual melancholic poem about an abandoned ghost town? How would the individual verses from the images of fog, concrete, and dead animals? Conceptual VR artist Melanie Courtinat draws the viewers into the landscape of a city whose inhabitants have abandoned it because something terrible has happened. Something evil. Something brutal. The viewers glide slowly through a city that nature has reclaimed. Unknown voices speak to them through fragments of texts, evoking a mixture of feelings from suspense to surprise. Is this reality or a dream? It is only at the very end that the viewers reach the point, which has an unexpectedly substantial and documentary value.