Through a succession of time jumps from the 70s to a post-anthropocene future, we follow in the footsteps of a mysterious creature with whom we journey across eras.
Directed by Benjamin Nuel, winner of the Best VR Story Award in Venice in 2018, AGE OF THE MONSTER is an interactive and dreamlike experience.
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It on January 13th 2018, 1.4m people across Hawai’i received an SMS from the state’s Emergency Management Agency: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
In the minutes that followed, they were forced to confront existential questions that had been unthinkable just moments before: where could they go for shelter? What would remain of their communities if they survived a nuclear blast? How could they explain to their children why we live in a world where such unimaginable destruction was possible? And how could their own Government continue to pursue nuclear policies that threaten the entire global population every day?
By the time FEMA managed to retract the incorrect warning message, it was too late to pretend that normality would resume. Their collective experience had laid bare the growing threat that nuclear weapons pose to the world. In the words of Kauai resident Cynthia Lazaroff, ‘Nothing happened, but everything changed’.
It on January 13th 2018, 1.4m people across Hawai’i received an SMS from the state’s Emergency Management Agency: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
In the minutes that followed, they were forced to confront existential questions that had been unthinkable just moments before: where could they go for shelter? What would remain of their communities if they survived a nuclear blast? How could they explain to their children why we live in a world where such unimaginable destruction was possible? And how could their own Government continue to pursue nuclear policies that threaten the entire global population every day?
By the time FEMA managed to retract the incorrect warning message, it was too late to pretend that normality would resume. Their collective experience had laid bare the growing threat that nuclear weapons pose to the world. In the words of Kauai resident Cynthia Lazaroff, ‘Nothing happened, but everything changed’.
While bombs rain on Iran, a deeply needed empathetic experience.
Less than 5 gr of Saffron tackles a subject we think we’ve already seen too much of : the often tragic circumstances under which many migrants flee their home countries in search of a better future. A hundred times, stories of shipwrecks, a hundred times the numbers of those drowned at any given moment have filled our screens, anonymous people who disappear from our memories with a snap of the fingers.
Yet Negar’s uniquely intimate approach touches something deeply personal within us. She evokes our capacity to identify profoundly with a survivor by placing her in a universally familiar, everyday situation—preparing a meal. What might seem trivial becomes essential: can one relive trauma to awaken to a new life?
Negar turns our attention to the aftermath, to the moment when safety is finally achieved, and one can permit oneself to exist without fear. Throughout this authentic immersion, it is her protagonist, Golnaz, who guides us toward self-reflection. Our proximity to Golnaz is absolute: we experience almost everything through her perspective as she cooks (we become Golnaz!), and step by step, as the recipe unfolds, we are overwhelmed alongside her by the resurgence of trauma.
Born in 1981 in Saint-Étienne, France, Benjamin Nuel goes from between traditional filmmaking and video games, exploring new forms of immersive storytelling. His second VR piece, “Isle of the Dead”, won “Best Story in VR” Lion Award in Venice in 2018 and has been showcased in more than fifty international festivals since then.
JORGE TERESO is a director & digital artist from Buenos aires. His work ranges from playful and lysergic animations to realistic VR experiences and interactive installations. He’s a partner at 3dar studios, where he created its first award winning short film, Shave It (2013).
Since then he’s been creating 3dar’s original content, always in search of new ways to expand the possibilities of animation.
Written and directed by
Benjamin Nuel
Production Companies
Atlas V & Albyon
Producer
Oriane Hurard
Narration
Romane Bohringer (FR), Kate Moran (EN)
Composer
Puce Moment
Sound Design
Côme Jalibert
Key Collaborators
Kevin Lesur, Léon Denise, Hoon Kwon, Audrey Macquet, Noémie Six
Supported by
CNC, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Procirep-Angoa, Bipolar
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