They say art shifts cultural perspective, and at Goethe-Zentrum's Virtual Reality film experience, Vroooom, that shift feels almost tangible. You are not just watching, you are there. Depending on the film, you might find yourself anywhere.
In ‘MLK: Now is the Time’, a movie that explores the relevance of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic “I have a dream” speech, you’re inside a car, a Black American with tense, quiet hands on the wheel, the police watching your every move. Hands become a weapon in the eyes of authority, and even within this virtual space, there’s an undeniable tension—you must not move. The boundary between real and virtual collapses and the viewer becomes part of the scene.
At the Hamburg Hall of Goethe-Zentrum, that collapse feels like a ‘vroom’ into another era. This VR film experience takes you to different worlds —different times, histories, places. In ‘MLK’, you’re taken to the times of the civil rights movement.
The plot waits for your raised fist to move ahead, like an invitation to stand shoulder to shoulder in the civil rights movement. It is as if you are marching right alongside. "It’s intense," says Amita Desai, executive director of Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad.
"It’s like it’s happening inside your own head." Running till November 17, this showcase at Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, in collaboration with Annapurna College of Film and Media, gathered VR films by creators from around the world, exploring history, culture,.
