After its international premiere at the 80th Venice Film Festival, Remember this place: 31°20′46″N 34°46′46″E, a virtual reality film experience on Palestine by The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar, has been selected for the 29th Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) between November 3 -12, 2023.
The 35-minute film explores the concept of a fragile home through the perspective of Bedouin communities threatened to be displaced and forcibly urbanized across historic Palestine. It features the stories of female Palestinian activists, architects, artists, and poets who are working to preserve their homes, culture, and histories from being erased.
The film will be showcased as part of the International Immersive Experience Competition, which includes a selection of XR, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality projects exploring the rich connections between narrative and technology. Selected works in this category will also compete for the Reflet d’Or award for best immersive film, endowed with a cash prize and awarded by a jury of international experts.
“We are very proud of how successful this project has been so far,” said Jack Thomas Taylor, interim director of The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar. “It is not only a testament to how hard the team worked on bringing this vision to life, but also a homage to the Palestinian people who face obstacles and tragic circumstances every day of their lives, no more so than right now.
He added: “This experience allows viewers to step in their shoes in a way no other medium can, and we only hope it opens more people’s eyes, minds, and hearts around the world to what has been happening in Palestine for more than seven decades.”
The 35-minute film explores the concept of a fragile home through the perspective of Bedouin communities threatened to be displaced and forcibly urbanized across historic Palestine. It features the stories of female Palestinian activists, architects, artists, and poets who are working to preserve their homes, culture, and histories from being erased.
The film will be showcased as part of the International Immersive Experience Competition, which includes a selection of XR, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality projects exploring the rich connections between narrative and technology. Selected works in this category will also compete for the Reflet d’Or award for best immersive film, endowed with a cash prize and awarded by a jury of international experts.
“We are very proud of how successful this project has been so far,” said Jack Thomas Taylor, interim director of The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar. “It is not only a testament to how hard the team worked on bringing this vision to life, but also a homage to the Palestinian people who face obstacles and tragic circumstances every day of their lives, no more so than right now.
He added: “This experience allows viewers to step in their shoes in a way no other medium can, and we only hope it opens more people’s eyes, minds, and hearts around the world to what has been happening in Palestine for more than seven decades.”
“We are very proud of how successful this project has been so far. It is not only a testament to how hard the team worked on bringing this vision to life, but also a homage to the Palestinian people who face obstacles and tragic circumstances every day of their lives, no more so than right now”
- Jack Thomas Taylor, interim director of The Media Majlis
Directed by documentary filmmaker Patricia Echeverría Liras, the project came to life after Liras experienced first-hand the horrors of Israeli occupation while traveling to Palestine in 2019 to visit the communities across the Naqab desert. With The Media Majlis as the executive producer, Liras set out to develop an immersive experience that showcases the grim reality of living under occupation while prompting viewers to reflect on their relationship to home as a concept.
Using visual components composed of 3D reconstructions of real locations, spaces, and artifacts, and recorded noises from different communities, the team used immersive storytelling to bring memories of histories and spaces that are being erased in the real world and take them into a virtual landscape.
“The erasure of these homes is happening in surreptitious ways, gradually, over time, while no one is watching,” said Liras. “Our intention, through the project, is to bring awareness of voices and sounds that exist in faraway lands, into spaces where they are not yet heard.”
Remember this place: 31°20′46″N 34°46′46″E is also being showcased as part of The Media Majlis’ fall 2023 exhibition, MetaWhat?. The exhibition explores the pitfalls and opportunities of an ever-changing digital media landscape while challenging Western structures and offering a view of this new technology from the perspectives of the Global South.
Using visual components composed of 3D reconstructions of real locations, spaces, and artifacts, and recorded noises from different communities, the team used immersive storytelling to bring memories of histories and spaces that are being erased in the real world and take them into a virtual landscape.
“The erasure of these homes is happening in surreptitious ways, gradually, over time, while no one is watching,” said Liras. “Our intention, through the project, is to bring awareness of voices and sounds that exist in faraway lands, into spaces where they are not yet heard.”
Remember this place: 31°20′46″N 34°46′46″E is also being showcased as part of The Media Majlis’ fall 2023 exhibition, MetaWhat?. The exhibition explores the pitfalls and opportunities of an ever-changing digital media landscape while challenging Western structures and offering a view of this new technology from the perspectives of the Global South.
