Protecting our future through immersive film

The photo hints of an atrocity about to happen, a tragedy that younger generations need to be aware of and educated on, so that it is never repeated. However, an internet facilitated bombardment of visual media has contributed to us becoming complacent towards such images and the stories that they tell.

Associate Professor Peter Hegedus is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning writer, director, and producer based at the Griffith Film School and Creative Arts Research Institute, Griffith University. He and his colleagues examine modes of storytelling using the latest screen technologies to engage audiences with critical issues, increase or generate empathic responses from viewers, and elicit social change.

“I am the grandson of a Holocaust survivor. I was deeply moved by the image of the women in the photograph and wanted to be brave, to fight Holocaust fatigue and alert people to how genocides are continuing to occur in our world,” said Associate Professor Hegedus. “We need people to never forget these tragedies – to see what can happen in a world dominated by selective empathy and disinformation and when prejudice is not confronted.”

The photo depicts the last moments of a group of Latvian women and a 10-year-old child, Sorella Epstein. They were among 3,640 Latvian Jewish women and children massacred by Nazi troops and their Latvian collaborators at Skede Beach, Latvia during World War II.

This single atrocity photograph led to co-producers Associate Professor Hegedus, Jaclyn McLendon and Bobbi-Lea Dionysius and a team of five Griffith Masters students generating three films.

Two of the films, In Their Name (premiered on ABC TV) and To Never Forget are documentaries while the third, Sorella’s Story, is an immersive virtual reality 360° (VR-360) short film.

Sorella’s Story aims to plunge its audience into the rich subtext of the photograph through dramatization and elevate it from the oversaturated volume of photographic material easily accessible on the internet. The film was used to study the potential of VR-360 films as a tool for empathy building, an important first step towards viewers taking actions that address social justice issues.

“The VR-360 film format means that viewers are not confined to conventional rules of watching a film on screen, they can choose where and when to look as events unfold, with the unique use of sound design and visual effects adding to the tense atmosphere that serves to represent the Holocaust,” said Associate Professor Hegedus.

Griffith researchers Dr Ana Borges Jelinic and Professor Elena Marchetti constructed empathy surveys that were completed by viewers of Sorella’s Story at the Venice International Film Festival, the Brisbane International Film Festival, and Griffith Film School orientation week. The results indicated that Sorella’s Story enhanced viewers empathic connections and responses to the topic and their motivation for action.

In collaboration with the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and funded by the Gandel Foundation, Sorella’s Story is now being disseminated to high schools across Australia. This program provides students with spaces for reflection after viewing the film as the next step to fully engage them with difficult topics and allow them to explore actions they can undertake.

“Our educational program allows students to consider what photographs tell us about events, and what they do not tell us. Such photographs – taken by the perpetrators – often conceal more than they disclose,” said Dr Simon Holloway, Manager of Adult Education and Academic Engagement, Melbourne Holocaust Museum. “We hope the students will leave with a deeper understanding of their own place within society and of the degree to which we are all responsible for one another. We look forward to continuing our work with Griffith University and to maximising the impact of these films in the broader community.”

Sorella’s Story has also become part of the permanent collection at the new Queensland Holocaust Museum. Associate Professor Hegedus was subsequently commissioned by the museum to record the stories of Queensland Holocaust survivors and their descendants and produce a new immersive VR-360 film.

Titled When We Were Children (also known as Heroes), the film takes viewers on a journey through the eyes of four children living in a war zone. Funding for the film was provided by the Queensland Holocaust Museum, Screen Australia, and the Griffith University Disrupting Violence Beacon with Bobbi-Lea Dionysius as co-producer. This project has allowed Associate Professor Hegedus to further explore new narrative designs to push the boundaries of Holocaust representations connecting to the plight of children in war zones today.

“The potential to improve engagement, education and empathy related to a number of topics is high using innovative film techniques,” said Associate Professor Hegedus. “We’re excited to be looking at broadening our coverage of social justice topics such as children in war zones, as well as other areas that audiences are displaying complacency towards such as climate action.”