ROZSYPNE
Directed by Lisa Weeda and Nienke Huitenga
Scenario by Lisa Weeda
Produced by Studio ZZZAP
A roomscale VR story about Nina, an old lady trying to preserve daily life in the Eastern-Ukrainian warzone, with the MH17-crash at her doorstep.
THE STORY
In the summer of 2014, the village of Rozsypne in the eastern Ukrainian countryside found itself in the midst of a raging civil war, the lives of its inhabitants unsettled by the destruction and chaos at their doorstep. But the suffering of Rozsypne only made international news after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down, killing all 298 passengers and raining debris, bodily remains and other traces of human life over the fields and homes of the village—whose name translates as “scattered.”
While international coverage of the crash mostly centered on Western European lives, this poetic roomscale VR experience offers a fragmented window into the life of Nina, an elderly woman living in Rozsypne. Moving through the distinctive Ukrainian sunflower fields, we witness the details of Nina’s austere but cozy home and experience the feeling of this faraway reality up close. A vivid and brightly colored exploration of mourning, endurance, and common human feeling.
“Heartbreaking. Accomplished. Beautiful.”
Verity McIntosh
(Programme Lead MA Virtual Reality @ UWE Bristol)
Kees Driessen (Filmkrant.nl)
“Rozsypne has texture in abundance.
“Rozsypne has texture in abundance. This reinforces the experience of vastness, and therefore of isolation, and therefore the emotional shock when world politics suddenly descends, in the form of debris, rain of bullets and tanks.”
Lisa Weeda in an interview with VICE NL
“We wanted to show the story of the people who absolutely cannot or do not want to leave Eastern ukraine while a war is going on.
“We wanted to show the story of the people who absolutely cannot or do not want to leave Eastern ukraine while a war is going on. You quickly think: if there is war, why don't you leave? But my great aunt, for example, built the house she lives in together with her husband. She doesn't want to leave there..”
ROZSYPNE is supported by the Dutch Foundation for Literature, Flemish-Dutch House deBuren and the City of Utrecht.
ROZSYPNE is created by
Director Nienke Huitenga-Broeren & Lisa Weeda
Screenplay Lisa Weeda
Technical lead & artist Frank Bosma
Developer Corin Donders, Hans van Arken
Animation Hans van Arken, Berry de Jong
Production Studio ZZZAP
Executive producer Nienke Huitenga-Broeren
Music Mark IJzerman
Sound design Dennis Gaens
Sound Studio Moskou Studio
Nina is performed by
Narration Marina Grigorievna Gulmomadova (NL, EN, RU) and Svitlana Stopina (UA)
Model Margriet Jans-Teunissen
Motion Capture Anastasiia Liubchenko
Additional voice-over directing Mariia Ponomarova
ROZSYPNE was supported by
Dutch Foundation for Literature, deBuren and the City of Utrecht
Poster design Kaulane Huisman
We want to thank our key collaborators Henriette Louwerse (Sheffield University, UCL, Nottingham University), Mariia Ponomarova, Oksana Parafeniuk, Andrii Guselietov, Jonathan Reeder, Ed Weeda, Quincy Norbert, Jamel Ziaty, NMTRIX Animation Studios, Joost Broeren and Klasien van de Zandschulp
