Assent
Australia 2013 | 15 Min.
An experience dimension beyond the confines of any cinema screen we will open up with the Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses. In the virtual domain, we adopt the perspective of a young Chilean officer.
ASSENT is an autobiographic project, which makes excellent and very impressive use of this revolutionary technology.
When the military took control of Chile in the coup of September 1973, it was the culmination of Cold War tensions, international political influence and internal conflict. For army personnel, it was an event that marked their lives. In the immediate aftermath of the coup, a “Caravan of Death” roamed the country conducting executions of military detainees. This was a mechanism to install terror into the community and a way to demonstrate the force of the central authorities to military staff outside the capital, and, by making them complicit in the actions of the junta, to ensure their loyalty. Thirty years later, the repercussions of those events still play out daily – in courts, in politics, and in the homes of Chilean people.
This autobiographical immersive documentary puts the viewer in the footsteps of my father, who in 1973 was a 22-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment. Assent invites the user to witness that day through my father’s eyes, and mine. (Oscar Raby)
The project can be experienced in our screening-gallery which is open from 12th to 17th May between 10am and 5pm.
For ASSENT please make an appointment at the festival-counter.
