06/08/2023
The film discussed the question of life in virtual reality, in a world that is becoming more and more dependent on technology. Can our reality become a video game if we spend many hours in VR?
These were some of the questions in the minds of the audience members after watching Knit's Island at DokuFest. Over 96 minutes, the audience became part of a world of virtual reality avatars, their lives and even the human sides to them.
The film deals with the shared history and individual stories of a cast that never met to shoot the film. The director becomes part of a virtual space in which video game players can come together and act as if they exist in a real-life survival situation. They have to make life-changing decisions for themselves and also for the other players.
Ignoring personal experiences at first, the avatar characters begin to show their dark and even human sides in the game. After playing the game for many hours, the players eventually also reveal their true sides. Gaming and virtual reality turns into a space where members surrender to their sensations and experiences in real life.
Director Ekiem Barbier first had the idea to shoot this film after discovering the existence of this kind of online reality. After the film, there was a Q+A session, in which he pointed out that the film does not intend to condemn people who spend long hours playing virtual games, but rather to stimulate the process of thinking about the thin line that separates these two realities, the real and the virtual.
By: Ana Haxhimali
Photo: Malda Lika
