DARKENING

How is the world perceived by someone with depression?  

The short animated documentary uses virtual reality to address depression and the ways to cope with it. Director and protagonist Ondřej guides us through diverse landscapes associating the story of his struggle with depression since puberty. We share his feelings during the first depressive episodes at a family trip in his childhood, at university when striving for perfect results, at work in his everyday fights with the depressive "darkening". Through animation, combining a stylized form of Ondřej's environment and abstract images of his emotions, the viewers will experience and understand what it is like to live with this illness, how to tackle it and what mechanisms are used by people with depression to feel better. Most of the interactions are voice controlled. The main character Ondřej finds out that his tool to get the depression under control is his voice. He uses humming, singing and even shouting as a calming and relieving technique.

script: Ondřej Moravec, Alice Krajčírová / director: Ondřej Moravec / visual concept & lead art director: Bára Anna Stejskalová / sound: Tomáš Oramus / producer: Hana Blaha Šilarová / co-producers: Gayatri Parameswaran, Felix Gaedtke, NowHere Media, Robin Pultera, Brainz Immersive

art directors: Long Phi Trieu, Moritz Mayerhofer / unity developers: Jozef Barančik, Kryštof Šuk, Felix Lange / art producer: Hynek Svatoš / heads of production: Violeta Ivanova, Julie Šislerová

Czech Republic, Germany | 2022 | 25 min | VR, Oculus Quest 2

supported by: Czech Film Fund, Unity Charitable Fund, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Nadační fond FILMTALENT ZLÍN

presented at: East Doc Interactive 2021, Sheffield DocFest 2021 in Arts Talent Market program and at IDFA Forum 2021

world premiere: Venice Immersive, Venice Biennale 2022

distribution: Hana Blaha Šilarová / +420 602 792 856 / hana@framefilms.cz