Darkening

Ondřej Moravec

Czech Republic, Germany | 2022 | 25 min

Credit:

Lead Art Director and Concept Artist: Bára Anna Stejskalová

Production: Hana Blaha Šilarová

Art Directing: Long Phi Trieu

Art Production: Hynek Svatoš

Unity Development: Jozef Barančik

Sound Design: Tomáš Oramus

Screenwriting: Alice Krajčírová

Co-Production: Robin Pultera, Brainz Immersive

Head of Technology: Ondřej Pultera

Head of Production: Violeta Ivanova

UX, Script Consultant: Zdeněk Blaha

Co-Production: Gayatri Parameswaran NowHere Media

Co-Production: Felix Gaedtke NowHere Media

Art Directing: Moritz Mayerhofer NowHere Media

Developer, Technical Artist: Felix Lange NowHere MediaMusic and Sound Mixing: Billy Mello NowHere Media

Synopsys:

How is the world perceived by someone with depression? The animated immersive film uses virtual reality to address depression and the ways to cope with it. Director and protagonist, Ondřej, guides us through diverse landscapes associating the story of his struggle with depression since puberty. We share his feelings during his first depressive episodes: on a family trip in his childhood, at university while striving for perfect results, at work in his everyday struggles with depressive ‘darkening’. Through animation, combining a stylised form of Ondřej’s environment and abstract images of his emotions, 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.

Festivals / Awards:

• Venice Film Festival – Venice Immersive Competition, Italy, 2022 – World Premiere
• Stereopsia EUROPE, Belgium, 2022 –
  Nominated for the Crystal Owl Award
• IDFF Ji.hlava Czech Joy Competition, Virtual Reality Competition, Czech  Republic, 2022
• Geneva International Film Festival –
  International Immersive Works Competition, Switzerland, 2022
• VERZIO – International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival – Vektor VR Programme, Hungary, 2022 
• VR Days Europe: Immersive TechWeek – Church of VR Selection, the Netherlands, 2022
• FIPADOC Smart Competition, France, 2023
• Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Greece, 2023 – Best Immersive International Competition Award: Golden Alexander
• One World IHRDFF, Czech Republic – One World Interactive Competition, 2023
• KURZUECHTIG – Short Film Festival Leipzig, Germany, 2023
• BIFAN Beyond Reality XR, South Korea 2023
• Games for Change, USA, 2023
• Vilnius Documentary Film Festival, Lithuania, 2023
• Beyond the Frame Festival, Japan, 2023
• Animateka International Animated Film Festival, Slovenia, 2023