Virtual reality film program  

GOLIATH: PLAYING WITH REALITY

Director: Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla
Screenplay: Barry Gene Murphy, Oliver Bancroft
Sound: Aaron Cupples, Owen Williams Parnell, Rebecca Parnell, Henrik Oppermann
Music: Aaron Cupples
Producer: Anetta Jones, Kirsty Jennings
Production: Anagram, Floréal Films
UK, France, 2021, 25 min.

Goliath has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. As Goliath explains what has happened to him, we experience how fragmented and confusing his reality is. The interactive VR experience blurs the boundary between game and reality. In an old-fashioned arcade game, we have to steer Goliath through all kinds of obstacles. What is more real? The online gaming world, in which Goliath has friends, fun, and achievable goals? Or physical reality, in which, as the VR user experiences, he is overwhelmed by psychoses? The voiceover by actress Tilda Swinton reminds us that in the end every reality is only formed inside our heads—or disintegrates there.

Barry Gene Murphy

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Barry Gene Murphy currently works as an animator and filmmaker in London.

May Abdalla

May Abdalla is a former radio journalist, currently working on experimental documentaries and virtual reality projects.

Awards

Venice Film Festival, Virtual Reality Competition, Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Immersive Work, 2021

DARKENING

Director: Ondřej Moravec
Screenplay: Alice Krajčírová, Ondřej Moravec
Sound: Tomáš Oramus
Music: Billy Mello
Producers: Hana Blaha Šilarová, Gayatri Parameswaran, Felix Gaedtke, Robin Pultera
Production: Frame Films, NowHere Media, Brainz Immersive
Czech Republic, Germany, 2022, 25 min.

Director and protagonist Ondřej guides us through diverse landscapes associating the story of his struggle with depression since puberty. We share his feelings during the first depressive episodes at a family trip in his childhood, at university when striving for perfect results. The viewers will experience and understand what it is like to live with this illness, how to tackle it and what mechanisms are used by people with depression to feel better. Most of the interactions are voice controlled. The main character Ondřej finds out that his tool to get the depression under control is his voice. He uses humming, singing and even shouting as a calming and relieving technique.

Ondřej Moravec

Ondřej Moravec is a filmmaker, journalist and writer. He worked as Program Director at One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival. He works as VR programmer at several film festivals in the Czech Republic and promotes virtual reality in the film world. His first VR project “Darkening” was premiered in Venice FF 2022.

Awards

Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Golden Alexander for Best Immersive Film, 2023

Interactive experiences, new VR technologies
September 24–October 1, film and media space Planeta (A. Goštauto str. 2).
Screenings at 18:00, 19:00 and 20:00 o’clock.

Tickets are available at the Skalvija Cinema Center or online: www.bilietai.lt