Underplayed Gems

Biidaaban: First Light (2018)

Biidaaban: First Light poster
Directed by
Lisa Jackson
Genre
animation
Country
Canada
Runtime
8 min
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

The viewer is placed in a virtual reality vision of downtown Toronto that has been overtaken by plants and animals. The film uses narration in Indigenous languages to reflect on living in balance with nature.

immersivepeacefulcontemplativenature-filledhopefulslow-pacedatmosphericmeditative

What happens

Biidaban: First Light is a Canadian immersive virtual reality film, created by Lisa Jackson and released in 2018. The film places viewers in an immersive vision of a Downtown Toronto that has been reclaimed by nature, with vegetation and animals living freely inside the urban landscape, with narration in the indigenous Wendat, Mohawk and Ojibwe languages. Jackson has indicated that the film is not meant to be perceived as apocalyptic, but as a meditation on the importance of humans living in harmony with nature to build a positive future. She created the film in conjunction with 3D artist Mathew Borrett, digital production agency Jam3 and the digital studio of the National Film Board of Canada. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2018. It received a special event screening at Nathan Phillips Square in September, before having its official Canadian premiere at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.