TUESDAY JUNE 13, 2017
Virtual Reality, or VR as it better known, has really taken the world by storm. After the advent of digital video which made storytelling accessible to all, VR marks the next paradigm shift that really allows filmmakers to evoke one of humanity’s most elusive emotions in viewers: empathy.
Because VR puts you in a first-person position, the “film” almost literally puts you inside the film’s world. “The Last Goodbye”, a VR film directed by Gabo Arora and Ari Palitz about the Holocaust, debuted at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews, presents a moving description about the consequences of the Holocaust.
Meraki Studio also documented the CSR efforts of Vedanta in the film “A 360-degree view of life at NandGhar” about the modernising anganwadis with technology and teaching methodologies in Barmer, Rajasthan.
Based in the Bay Area, a small NGO by the name of India Literacy Project is raising funds from non-resident Indians in the US for literacy projects back home in India. Meraki Studio recently teamed up with ILP in designing a VR based experience that would showcase the excellent work they are doing in some of the most inaccessible regions of tribal India. The “I am Keonjhar” documentary project was a truly remarkable feat in that it really captured the essence of our experience with ILP deep in the Odisha heartland.
Being there at the grassroots level, bringing literacy to the most remote corners of our country, you really feel the dedication ILP has to their mission. The entire team at Meraki Studio was deeply moved by the beautiful sights and experiences in Odisha, and we hope that “I am Keonjhar” elicits the same reaction in every viewer.