The winner of the Virtual Reality competition at the 28th Ji.hlava IDFF was announced. The Best VR Award went to Dreaming of Lebanon by Martin Waehlisch and Cynthia Sawma (United States), an interactive documentary which uses the latest technology of volumetric video, stereoscopic 360° viewing and 3D animation.
The VR competition jury members were Slovak film historian Katarína Mišíková, French artist Gwenola Wagon, and the Czech documentarian Andran Abramjan.
The jury gave the following statement:
Dreaming of Lebanon uses immersive aspects of VR to share experience of a time and place in crisis. It merges documentary and illusive elements to emphasize individual engagement in collective responsibility. For using VR as an empathetic medium, the award goes to Dreaming of Lebanon.
