Cabinets of Wonder

Genre VR experience and documentary

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The multi-platform project CABINETS OF WONDER consists of a documentary film and a VR experience. Both stimulate empathy and thinking in an entertaining way, and the VR offers a valuable, creative experience in the virtual world.

What is it about?

Four children between the ages of 11 and 14 take us on a journey into their secret world and show what childhood means to them.

Wisdom, a boy with Cameroonian heritage, Joline, the girl who never wants to grow up, Elias, who lives on their own planet, and Roya, who came to Germany from Iran five years ago, are very different. Nevertheless, they have one thing in common in their everyday lives in Germany: they don’t quite fit into the framework of our society. They stand out, they cause trouble, and they often don’t feel like they belong. Adults have labels for this: migration background, autism, learning disabilities.

Image showing the VR environment of Elias' Cabinet

Our kids break these pigeonholes, because as their song says, “You’re not weird or different, you’re unique, show that!” For the project, they wrote their own music, built props, made up stories, and most importantly, revealed their dreams and fears.

While the film captivates through its dramaturgical sequences, the children’s virtual worlds can even be entered in VR. One can curiously look around in them and interactively explore new stories in each room. Animations and mini-games lead us into the different children’s worlds. 
We go on a raft trip with Wisdom and listen to their exciting family legend, in which their great-grandfather fights with a lion. Roya tells of her escape experiences and becomes a mermaid in her dreams. In Joline’s world, visitors transform letters into shiny blue, sounding bugs. And on Elia’s planet, visitors can let off steam in a playful way: Guinea pigs can be blow-dried and Rose, his nerdy voice box, can be cast.

Image showing the VR environment of Royas Cabinet

Project Details

Director
Susanne Kim

Author
Susanne Kim

Production Company
Neufilm
expanding focus GmbH

Producer
Holm Taddicken
Alexander Herrmann

Genre
Feature Length Documentary
VR experience series
educational project