For the past few years the annual Sheffield Doc/Fest event in the UK has been showcasing what VR can do for documentaries with its Alternate Realities exhibition. 2017 will be no different, and one of the first projects to premiere at the event has now been announced.
Future Aleppo is the winner of the £10,000 Alternate Realities Commission. The piece is from Alex Pearson and London-based production studio, Marshmallow Laser Feast. It’s set to shine a light on the Syrian city of Aleppo, now torn to pieces in the ongoing conflict in the country. Syrian-born Mohammed Kteish sought to preserve the many landmarks that once defined the city by creating paper-craft models of them.
Perason and Marshmallow Laser Feast will create a VR experience using photogrammetry and 3D modelling that will take viewers on a tour of Kteish’s creations, guided by the 15 year old himself. You’ll walk the streets of the city and meet its inhabitants, exploring it as it once was.
In a prepared statement, Alternate Realities Curator Dan Tucker said: “Future Aleppo is a poignant and powerful project. I am excited to see how Alex and Marshmallow Laser Feast interpret Mohammed’s story told through his beautiful paper-craft models, created to defy the destruction of his home city.”
Sheffield Doc/Fest returns from 9th – 14th June 2017. You’ll probably be busy watching E3 towards the end of that week, but make sure you’re on the look out for exciting new experiences at this show too.
