Anagram
The mixed reality experience created by May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy and narrated by Tilda Swinton world premiered in the 2024 Venice Immersive Program at the 81st Venice International Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival announced Saturday that Impulse: Playing with Reality, directed by May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy, created and produced by Anagram, supported by Meta VR for Good and co-produced by Floréal & France Télévisions, has been awarded the prize for Achievement as part of the 2024 Venice Immersive Program.
Impulse: Playing with Reality is an interactive mixed reality documentary that explores ADHD and how you make sense of the world around you, told through the stories of four people coming to terms with the decisions which have chartered their lives.
Actor Tilda Swinton narrates the experience. This is Swinton’s second consecutive time narrating for Anagram’s mental health collection. She previously narrated Goliath, which explored one man’s experience of psychosis and had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival in 2021. Goliath went on to win the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Immersive Work at the 78th Venice International Film Festival (2021) and be nominated for the News & Documentary Emmy Award in the Outstanding Interactive Media Innovation category (2022).
“Impulse is meant to create a safe space to explore the curiosity about the way the brain works for someone with ADHD. Through immersive storytelling we are able to share these stories to help ourselves better understand the hidden corners of our consciousness. We have been so lucky to have Tilda Swinton’s continued support through her narration of the first two chapters in the Playing with Reality collection,” said Co-creators May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy. “We are so grateful to the talented team behind this project as well as partners Meta, Agog, France Télévisions and CNC, and our co-producers Floréal. Without their tireless efforts none of this would be possible.”
The Playing with Reality collection uses a documentary storytelling approach to combine rigorous research with compelling narratives around mental health conditions. The employment of mixed reality plays with the audience’s relationship between the familiar and new, fostering a deeper understanding of mental health conditions. Impulse: Playing with Reality is a groundbreaking experience that harnesses the unique capabilities of immersive entertainment and Meta’s mixed-reality (MR) technology to promote and amplify awareness and empathy around ADHD.
“Anagram’s collaboration with leading global neuroscientists, psychologists, and Meta’s Wellbeing team to inform the experience design is a testament to Anagram’s care and respect for mental health and ADHD,” said Ryan Genji Thomas, Producer at Meta. “ Meta is a proud supporter of Impulse and this team, and we’re excited to finally share this cutting-edge experience with the public.”
