This year BookCamp is premiering the Stories Lab: a space for the exhibition of digital narratives with festival activities revolving around them such as round tables, talks and tasters of narratives. The theme chosen for the inauguration of the space this year is immersive narratives in 360 audiovisual formats and virtual reality. The impact of this new wave of immersive narratives is ostensibly greater than previous ones, and possibly this time they are here to stay. This new format is generating a great deal of interest in such diverse spheres as journalism, art, documentaries, museums and social activism.
At the height of the international boom in virtual reality we want to generate a space for sitting back and reflecting, where we can explore one of the most important debates present in all the international forums on this new format: its narrative capacities, for telling stories as until now they had been told in the audiovisual world. We will do so by opening the habitual spectrum around which immerse productions are centred, offering an exhibition divided into four spheres: documentary, independent narratives, children’s narratives and literary adaptations and narratives for social change.
DOCUMENTARY
6×9
The Mill for The Guardian / UK, 2016, 9’
6×9 is The Guardian‘s first virtual reality experience which places the viewer inside a US solitary confinement prison cell and tells the story of the psychological damage that can ensue from isolation.
Witness 360:7/7
Darren Emerson / UK, 2015, 13’
On 7 July 2005, Jacqui Putnam stepped on to a Circle Line train in London on her way to work. At 08:50 am Mohammad Sidique Khan detonated a bomb in the carriage next to hers. This is the story of her day, the immediate aftermath of the explosion and her road to recovery.
Greenpeace: A Journey to the Arctic
MediaMonks for Greenpeace / Sweden, 2016, 3’50’’
The film shows the Arctic’s pristine beauty with serene footage of ice caves and the region’s unique wildlife. Shot in extreme conditions, the film is the first to record a wild polar bear on a 360 camera.
INDEPENDENT NARRATIVES
Drawing Room
Jan Rothuizen i Sara Kolster / The Netherlands, 2015, 7’30’’
This film recreates the interior and the views of a room on the roof of a department store in the centre of Amsterdam. It deals with the question Virtual Reality creates: can being somewhere, an experience, be a work of art in itself?
Le Temps Perdu
Zohar Kfir / USA, 2016, 10′
Le Temps Perdu uses a found-film footage archive for the creation of a new, inventive work of interactive virtual reality where viewers can construct their own film and piece together their own particular narratives, similar to the famous ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books.
SENS VR
Gilles Freissinier / France, 2016, 10’ (each chapter)
SENS VR is the first virtual reality game inspired by a comic. Lost in a graphic labyrinth, we are only guided by some arrows. Where will they take us?
Notes on Blindness
Colinart, La Burthe, Middleton & Spinney / United States, 2016, 7’
After losing his sight in 1983, John Hull began to record an audio diary documenting his discovery of ‘a world beyond sight’. Hull’s original recordings form the basis of this animated documentary, which uses 360° video and binaural sound.
CHILDREN’S NARRATIVES AND LITERARY ADAPTATIONS
Allumette
Penrose Studios / United States, 2016, 20’
Allumette, loosely inspired by The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen, is a story about love, sacrifice and a deep bond between a young girl who lives in a fantastical city in the clouds and her mother.
The Rose and I
Penrose Studios / United States, 2016, 5’
The Rose And I is a touching adaptation of The Little Prince from Penrose Studios, a story about loneliness, friendship, love, and loss. Come meet a lonely Rose living in the unlikeliest of places, and join her as she transports you to a brand new universe.
Lincoln in the Bardo
Graham Sack / United States, 2017, 10’
The film is a companion to George Saunders’ new novel that tells the story of the grieving president Lincoln as he spends the night in the cemetery where his son lies in rest.
NARRATIVES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Waves of Grace
Chris Milk, Gabo Arora / United States, 2015, 10’
This is the story of Decontee Davis, an Ebola survivor who uses her immunity to care for orphaned children in her Liberian village. Liberia has endured the largest Ebola outbreak in history. As communities rebuild, Decontee and others seek healing through faith.
The Click Effect
Sandy Smolan, James Nestor / United States, 2016, 7’
The Click Effect follows two marine scientists as they dive 100 feet under the ocean’s surface on a single breath and capture the secret “click” communication of dolphins and sperm whales.
Nobel’s Nightmare
Chamsy Sarkis / Syria, 2016, 5′ // Device. Samsung Gear.
One of the world’s oldest cities and for many years the heart of the Syrian economy, Aleppo is now ravaged by war. Nobel’s Nightmare was shot prior to the capture of the city by the loyalist army. You are embedded with the Syrian Civil Defence teams of Aleppo, the unarmed volunteers performing search and rescue, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Displaced
Imraan Ismail, Ben C. Solomon, Chris Milk, Jake Silverstein / United States, 2015, 11’
War has driven 30 million children from their homes. These are the stories of three of them. In this VR film, created by Within and The New York Times, you can witness the lives of the displaced refugees, their limited options and also their extraordinary resilience.
