Taiwanese VR film "Home (舊家)" by director Kidding Chih-yen Hsu (許智彥) won the Grand Prix of the 2021 Beyond the Frame Festival (BTFF), Japan's first international film festival focused on VR . Hsu has previously directed the comedy-drama film "Dear Ex (誰先愛上他的)."
"Home" takes the audience back to the home of director Hsu’s grandmother and immerses them in the lively atmosphere of a family reunion during a holiday until its sentimental ending when they part ways.
A joint production between the Kaohsiung Film Archive (高雄市電影館) and Funique VR Studio, "Home" is currently screening at the VR Film Lab in Kaohsiung (VR 體感劇院).
This year, the film festival focused on VR has competition category for the first time. KOM_I, lead singer of the Japanese music group "Wednesday Campanella," was invited to be festival ambassador and renowned Japanese director Sono Sion (園子溫) is one of the three jury members.
Sono Sion acclaimed that "Home" transcends the notion that a VR film production requires animation or CGI to leave an impression. "I just discovered that real-life VR can be so appealing," Sion said. "I was much immersed in the movie. The final scene showing that the family left the grandmother sitting alone in front of the TV really made me sad," he added.
Speaking to Japanese audience in a video call, Hsu said he found it incredible that "Home," which is based on an extremely personal story as he tried to capture the appearance of his old home through his grandmother's eyes, has received such positive acclaim.
"The overlapping of our past and our present allows this work to present various inconceivable possibilities," Hsu said.
Hsu also expressed his hope that after the pandemic, he will be able to talk to the audience face-to-face and connect with them on a more personal level.
Photo courtesy of VR Film Lab.