Floating with spirits

In this cinematic VR, magical stories are told by two young Mazatec, indigenous sisters Jocelynne and Jaquelyne, who recall the ancestral knowledge and mystical cosmogony that their shaman grandmother used to share with them, in the misty mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. Their village lies amidst giant Ceiba trees and rivers full of life. Nature breathes and, within, preserves the memories of this community. The landscape that surrounds them is full of knowledge. While preparing for the Day of the Dead, they share the stories of their ancestors. During these special days, the spirits of their loved ones descend into the world of the living, guided by the light of the candles and the glow of the Cempasuchil flowers on the altars. The girls’ imagination transports us into the world of the spirits of their ancestors and the spirits of nature. A shamanic dance ritual opens a portal through which we can discover the secret worlds of four spirits of nature. Each spirit has its own secret that it will share with us to enable us to make a new connection with the ancestral Mazatec knowledge. Their vision of the world is beautiful, deep and urgent to be shared in a moment where our society needs to rewire its ways of viewing and interacting with nature.

Who says what is real and what is not? How are we able to see and feel the invisible worlds? How can we communicate with the forces and spirits that live within our lands? I spent years getting to know the sabedoras (knowledge people) from Mazatec indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, listening, learning and sharing about their cosmogony and world vision. It connects deeply with my own background and questions around the afterlife, the connections between the human and non-human and the portals between the visible and the invisible. Inspired in their cosmogony, we built this sensorial and poetic ancestral futurism VR experience, to shake our perception of the real, to rewire the ways we connect with nature and the afterlife.

PRODUCTION 1: Emmy Oost - Cassette for timescapes
Schuurstraat, 39
9040 – Gent, Belgium
Tel. +32 478211811
emmy@timescapes.be
http://www.timescapes.be

PRODUCTION 2: Donato Rotunno – Tarantula Luxembourg
1, rue du cimetière
1338 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Tel. +352 2649611
donato@tarantula.lu
http://www.tarantula.lu

PRODUCTION 3: Corine Meijers – Studio Biarritz
Hooghiemstraplein, 128
3514 AZ – Utrecht, Netherlands
Tel. +31 648017642
corine@studiobiarritz.nl
http://www.studiobiarritz.nl

PRESS OFFICE: Mirjam Wiekenkamp - NOISE Film & TV
Rapenburgerstraat 109
1011 VL - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Tel. +31 628652249
mirjam@noisefilmpr.com