The third snack of XR experiences organized by the British Council and Espacio Fundación Telefónica in collaboration with The App Date is dedicated to documentaries.
The new tools of immersive production are drastically modifying storytelling related to news and how we understand it. The spectator is now at the centre of the news and can get closer to the reality of an armed conflict, listen closely to the testimony of refugees or experience the emotions of the conquest of space.
On this occasion we invite you to discover five virtual reality experiences, carefully selected by Catherine Allen, produced in the UK by the most prestigious studios (BBC, the Guardian, Science Museum) and with the collaboration of first-class creators such as the writer Khaled Hosseini.
Book your free ticket from the 17th of September here
In My Shoes: Dancing With Myself (2016)
Dancing with Myself is the virtual reality retelling of a September evening filled with friends, food and seizures. Experienced from a first person perspective. Jane Gauntlett has a neurological condition. She has seizures that inhibit control of her thoughts, words and actions. Jane’s form of epilepsy is complex and unpredictable, and makes her feel as though “an unruly beast” inhabits her body. Her life is regularly injected with surrealism, embarrassment and kindness.
Dancing with Myself dares you to let go of your preconceptions and step into Jane's shoes for only 20 minutes. It is her story, told through her eyes, and with her thoughts – faithfully recreated in an immersive, empathetic, and theatrical experience.
Trafficked
This ambitious animated documentary allows the spectator to come face to face with the reality of the people trafficking and forced prostitution from the perspective of the victim. We discover the life of "Maria"; an enslaved woman who was taken from Central America (Nicaragua) to Mexico, where she was kept for 8 years. Based on true facts the story of "Maria" and her saviours has come to light thanks to Lourdes Heredia's research.
Easter Rising: Voice of a Rebel
A new historical VR experience that’s part documentary, part virtual theatre. Step into one man’s memories and journey back to a moment that changed Irish History forever: the 1916 Easter Rising. Easter rising is the name given to the uprising in Dublin, where the republican rebels, who were fighting in favour of independance from the British government occupied key buildings in the city. Hundreds of people died, mainly civilians and many of the rebels were accused of being traitors. Easter Rising: Voice of a Rebel was created by BBC iWonder, Crossover Labs and VRTOV. The story revolves around a tape recording of Willie McNeive from the 1970s. In these recordings, Willie talks about his involvement in the Easter Rising 60 years before when he was only 19 years old.
Space Descent
As the European Space Agency’s first British astronaut, Tim Peake spent six incredible months aboard the International Space Station.In this experience Tim guides us through his mission on board the Soyuz Capsule, the same one that bought him home. Using the latest state-of-the-art VR technology the Science Museum enables you to get a 360° look inside a Soyuz capsule and experience the thrill of being an astronaut. Space Descent VR retraces the 400km journey back to Earth from the ISS, and is narrated by Tim Peake.
Sea Prayer
Sea Prayer is a animated documentary created with "titlbrush" technology which commemorates the second anniversary of the deathof Alan Kurdi, the three year old sirian child who drowned trying to reach Greece in 2015. To commemorate the second anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned while attempting to reach Greece in 2015. The author Khaled Hosseini, a UNHCR goodwill ambassador , has written Sea Prayer. This imagined letter is written in the form of a monologue, delivered by a Syrian father to the son lying asleep in his lap, on the eve of their sea crossing to Europe.