2018 | VR | 8 min

Trailer / EPK

Synopsis

The town square is flooded. The city’s infrastructure has merged with local flora. In this radically different future, people have found a connection to the past. Biidaaban: First Light illuminates how the original languages of this land can provide a framework for understanding our place in a reconciled version of Canada’s largest urban environment.

Rooted in the realm of Indigenous futurism, Biidaaban: First Light is an interactive VR time-jump into a highly realistic Toronto of tomorrow. As users explore this altered city now reclaimed by nature, they must think about their place in history and ultimately their role in the future. 

Language carries the knowledge of its speakers. Indigenous North American languages are radically different from European languages and embody sets of relationships to the land, to each other, and to time itself. But as Indigenous languages face the risk of disappearing, we risk losing what they have to teach us.

Credits

Director Lisa Jackson
Producers Rob McLaughlin, Dana Dansereau, NFB Digital Studio (English)
3D Artist / Environment Designer Mathew Borrett
Designer / Developer Jam 3

Awards & Nominations

Best Immersive Experience Fiction

Canadian Screen Awards 2019

Best Interactive Work

imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival 2018

Official Nominee

Webby Awards 2019

Official Nominee

Banff World Media Festival Rockie Awards 2019

Best Virtual Reality Film

Tacoma Film Festival 2018

Selected Festivals & Presentations

Tribeca Storyscapes
LA Film Festival 
Melbourne Film Festival & Melbourne Museum
American Anthropological Association 
Walker Arts Centre, Minneapolis
Vancouver International Film Festival
RIDM Film Festival
Melbourne Museum
Nuit Blanche Montréal
Doors Open Toronto
New Media Gallery, New Westminster
Brisbane Power House
Margaret Mead (NY)
New Orleans Film Festival
Digital Jove, Spain
Camden Film Festival

Press