Channel 4 VR commision, Grenfell: Our Home wins Limina Creative VR Award at Picturehouse Central

20 February 2019

Grenfell: Our Home, produced by Parable Works, experienced major success with audiences at virtual reality arts festival, Limina VR Weekender at Picturehouse Central. This success highlights the artistic potential and power of documentary virtual reality.

The Limina Creative VR Award is an annual award that celebrates the strongest creative virtual reality experience that Limina have screened to UK audiences the previous year at the Limina VR Weekender. Now that the audience statistics are in, the judging panel have had chance to reflect, the panel are ready to make their annual Creative VR Award winner announcement.

The powerful VR documentary Grenfell: Our Home, created by London-based studio Parable in collaboration with 59 Productions, has been selected by the jury as the winner. It was commissioned by Channel 4.

Combining documentary interviews and animation, Grenfell: Our Home goes beyond the news headlines to bring to life survivors’ stories. It offers a powerful, moving and original perspective as well as a sensitive and respectful record of what happened.

Judges were looking for the virtual reality experience that demonstrated the most creative and effective use of the medium, as well as a careful consideration and awareness of their audience. The panel consisted of Richard Nockles - Creative Director of Sky VR,  Liz Rosenthal - Programmer of immersive content for Venice International Film Festival, Will Taylor - Creative Producer and Chris Harris representing Picturehouses.

The panel described the piece as a “stunning use of VR which draws you into the Grenfell community with colour and love...”, “...a perfect illustration of how virtual reality can bring to life in a powerful way, survivors’ stories from this tragic incident...”, “...shedding light not only on the raw naked truth of their experiences but also serving as a reminder of how often the news can provide a singular narrative on national news…”.

Audience reactions to Grenfell: our Home provide evidence of the increasing popularity of non-fictional and biographical VR content.

Upon receiving the award, Parable creators commented “We are thrilled to have won the Limina Creative VR Award for Grenfell: Our Home. The film was born out of a desire to use the creative power of virtual reality to offer a unique perspective on such an important story. We are hugely grateful to the contributors who took part, to Channel 4 for backing us to make it and to 59 Productions and the other talented creative partners who worked with us to bring the project to life.”

Siobhan Sinnerton, Commissioning Editor, News and Current Affairs and Immersive Content at Channel 4 added;  “Our ambition with this piece was to use the power of immersive technology to take the viewer where they sadly can never visit: into the much-loved homes of Grenfell Tower, and we are delighted the piece connected with audiences and critics alike. It encourages us to keep experimenting and seeking ways in which VR can compliment our traditional output.”

 Step to the Line, created by Defy Ventures and directed by Ricardo Laganaro, was also given a special mention by the judges. Shot on-location in a California maximum security prison, this 360 video documentary aims to provoke a transformation in the spectator’s eyes about prisoners, the prison system, and themselves.

On receiving the special mention, Ricardo commented “Two years after making Step to the Line, receiving this special mention and the recognition from people who know to the best of immersive content production in the world, brings a new layer of fulfillment to me. It shows that a good story, when well told, is timeproof.”

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Grenfell: Our Home and Step to the Line were featured as part the Limina VR Weekender, the UK’s largest dedicated arts VR festival. 2018’s festival was delivered in partnership with Picturehouse Central in London in December 2018 with the support of Royal Holloway, University of London, StoryFutures and Creative Clusters Programme. The event aimed to demonstrate the creative potential of virtual reality as an art form in its own right and to present a wide range of VR content to the public. The festival featured a range of world-class, artistic VR experiences, including work from Arte, The Guardian, and Bristol-based natural history VR studio, Biome Productions. The selection was curated by VR pioneer and founder of Limina, Catherine Allen and award-winning multi-platform artist and director Victoria Mappleback from Royal Holloway, University of London.

For further event information visit:

www.liminaimmersive.co.uk

https://spotlight.picturehouses.com/uncategorised/limina-vr-weekender-at-picturehouse-central/

ENDS

High-res images:

• Parable team with award (from left to right Chris Corless (DOP), Jonathan Rudd (Director) and David Wise (Executive Producer))
• Grenfell: Our Home
• Step to the Line
• Judges headshots

 

Notes to editors:

Limina Immersive

Limina Immersive is a leading UK-based VR exhibition company. We have screened VR to thousands of people across the country in our unique VR Theatre format. Our approach is based on an ongoing process of extensive audience research and testing, working with leading universities and cultural venues. We also work closely with some of the world’s most talented VR producers, giving us access to the most pioneering and meaningful content out there. Through our unique VR theatre format and expert curation, we get to the heart of what immersive media really means in context, working back from an audience perspective.

www.liminaimmersive.com | @LiminaImmersive

Parable

Parable launched in March 2017. Led by David Wise, Nicholas Minter-Green and Jonathan Rudd - experienced creatives from the worlds of television and brand communications - Parable creates stories and campaigns with impact, using the world’s most innovative and immersive technology. Since launching, the company has made numerous virtual reality and 360 films for the BBC, Channel 4, The Economist, brands and charities, as well as television documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC. Parable is backed by The Channel 4 Growth Fund and The Economist.

http://parableworks.com/

Defy Ventures

In 2010, Defy Ventures was founded in New York City with the mission to transform the lives of people with criminal histories and business leaders through their collaboration along the entrepreneurial journey. Rooted in the belief that everyone deserves a second chance (or a legitimate first one), Defy leverages the innate talents of its currently and formerly incarcerated Entrepreneurs-In-Training (EITs) and the generous spirit of its volunteers to “transform the hustle” of people impacted by the criminal justice system. Today, Defy’s programs empower thousands of EITs to succeed through chapters in NYC, the Bay Area, Southern California, Nebraska, and Colorado. Defy has engaged thousands of volunteers and EITs with impressive results, including a <5% recidivism rate.

https://defyventures.org/

Judging panel biographies

Liz Rosenthal is a pioneer of immersive and interactive storytelling, specialising in audiovisual innovation, specialises in boosting the digital potential of creators, institutions and media business. She is the Founder & CEO of Power the Pixel and Programmer of immersive content for Venice International Film Festival's Venice VR, the official competition section and Venice Production Bridge Finance Market.

Richard Nockles is the founder of Surround Vision, a specialist VR studio in London. A pioneering VR producer and director, Richard sees the blend of interactive gaming and volumetric capture as the evolution of the Media industry, and develops content across a range of immersive genres and experiences for VR and AR platforms. Richard is currently seconded as Creative Director at Sky VR studios.

Chris Harris is the senior Programmer and Head of Virtual Services at Picturehouse Cinemas.

Will Taylor is a multidisciplinary creative producer based in Bristol. Working mostly in film, publishing and creative development. His work revolves predominantly around inclusion and amplifying marginalised voices. Will likes to focus mostly on the visibility and sustainability of the practice of BAME artists and their stories throughout the city. He is mainly based at the Pervasive Media Studio, of which he is a resident.

Curator biographies

Catherine Allen is one of the UK's leading voices in immersive media and its future. She led the creation of two of the BBC's first VR experiences and now, as the co-founder of Limina Immersive, sets up and curates content for VR cinemas in arts venues across the country.

Her work is known for bringing immersive technology to the broader public who wouldn't describe themselves as early adopters. In 2018 her work shaping the VR sector was recognised through a prestigious Marie Claire Future Shapers award. Other awards include a BAFTA in 2014 for her work on the Disney Animated app and a Lovie in 2017 for the BBC VR documentary Easter Rising: Voice of a Rebel, which Broadcast magazine described as 'genre-defining'.

An accomplished public speaker, Catherine has delivered two TEDx talks and has been an industry expert for the BBC Today programme, The Guardian, The Economist, Wired Magazine, TechCrunch and BBC Click.

Victoria Mapplebeck is an award winning writer, artist and director. She is also Reader in Digital Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London. Victoria has been commissioned to produce films and interactive artworks for BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Film Four, Film London, Channel 4 and The Arts Council.

Victoria specialises in smartphone production and making short form online video with impact.  In 2015, Victoria filmed and directed 160 Characters a smartphone short for Film London (Best Documentary Award at the 2017 Short of the Week Film Awards, short-listed for the Innovation category of the 2016 AHRC Research in Film Awards, Vimeo Staff pick). 

Her film Missed Call was the first commissioned short film to be shot on the iPhone X and recently won The Social Media Short Award at the 2018 AHRC Research in Film Awards

Victoria writes regularly about documentary and VR for The Guardian, The Huffington Post and The Conversation. She has given lectures and keynotes at The Banff New Media Institute, Sheffield Doc Fest, IDFA, The V and A and is interviewed regularly for BBC, ITV and Sky news on developments in smartphone production and immersive content . Victoria is currently in production on a VR project  and new smartphone short for The Guardian. 

https://victoriamapplebeck.com