UTURN

What happens when a young female coder joins a male-dominated floundering startup that's deep in an identity crisis? UTURN explores themes of gender discrimination and sexism within the workplace in a new way, with interwoven stories that allow viewers to embody either a female or male character. Viewers can choose what perspective to follow at any time, and will only hear the scene they looked at through a unique spatial sound design. Whatever they miss might change their perspective on the overall story.

  • Nathalie Mathe
    Director
    L'enfant sans voix, A day in Maternelle
  • Ryan Lynch
    Director
    SanFran Land, Real Men Go Hunting
  • Ryan Lynch
    Writer
    SanFran Land, Real Men Go Hunting
  • Nathalie Mathe
    Writer
    L'enfant sans voix
  • Justin Chin
    Writer
  • Nathalie Mathe
    Producer
    L'enfant sans voix
  • Sophia DiPaola
    Key Cast
    Don't Shoot! I'm the Guitar Man
  • Steve Goldbloom
    Key Cast
    Remember Me
  • Justin Chin
    Cinematographer
    Bartlett, Lupe Under the Sun, Remember Me, Nowhere Girl
  • Shaun Farley
    Sound
    House of Cards, Ice Age: Collision Course, The Angry Birds Movie
  • Kevin Bolen
    Sound
    Ice Age: Collision Course, The Jungle Book, Star Wars: Battlefront, Jurassic World
  • Project Type:
    Virtual Reality
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 15, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    65,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    GoPro rig
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • San Francisco International Film Festival - VR Days
    San Francisco
    United States
    April 9, 2017
    North American Premiere
    VR Days selection
  • FIVARS - Festival of Intl Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Stories
    Toronto
    Canada
    September 15, 2017
    International Premiere
    Nominated for Best Interactive Experience
  • Raindance International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 29, 2017
    European Premiere
    Nominated for Best Cinematic Narrative Experience
  • UN Women Film Festival
    San Francisco
    United States
    September 14, 2017
    Official Selection
  • Tacoma Film Festival
    Tacoma
    United States
    October 6, 2017
    Washington State Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Jump into VR Festival
    New York
    United States
    September 15, 2017
    New York
    Winner Special Jury Price
  • Cleveland International Festival
    Cleveland
    United States
    April 12, 2018
    Ohio
    Official Selection Perspectives
  • Colcoa International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 27, 2018
    Los Angeles
    Official Selection
  • Seattle International Film Festival
    Seatlle
    United States
    May 17, 2018
    Official Selection VR Zone
  • Nantucket International Film Festival
    Nantucket
    United States
    June 20, 2018
    Massachusetts
    Official Selection
  • UN NGO Conference
    New York City
    United States
    August 22, 2018
  • SAT IX Immersive Experiences Symposium
    Montreal
    Canada
    May 29, 2018
    Quebec
    Official Selection
  • VR Days Europe
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    October 25, 2017
    Netherlands
    Official Selection
  • 360 Film Festival Satis
    Paris
    France
    November 6, 2018
    France
    Official Selection
  • Nuit Blanche a la Gaite Lyrique
    Paris
    France
    October 6, 2018
    France
Distribution Information
  • NativeVR
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Nathalie Mathe, Ryan Lynch

Nathalie is an award winning Virtual Reality, animation and documentary director. Over the past four years she contributed to over 35 cinematic Virtual Reality projects, including Paul McCartney in concert, The North Face Climbers, and Nepal for Jaunt. For twelve years, she was one of the few women creating visual effects on feature films like Fast & Furious 6, Skyfall and Dark Knight Rises. Nathalie now runs NativeVR, a VR studio in which she co-created and produced Uturn, a VR series celebrating gender diversity in the tech industry. She is a member of Women in VR and a 360 video instructor and coach with the Oculus LaunchPad program.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As a female creator, I wanted to use my voice to foster a dialogue about gender issues in the tech and media industries by creating an inclusive and engaging Virtual Reality experience. As VR sits at the intersection of all the major male-dominated fields, I believe VR itself could be the best possible tool to reach a male audience while giving women a powerful voice in this new medium.

What if we could get viewers to discover their own blind spot by giving them the choice to experience different gender perspectives? Our design uses the spherical view of 360 video to integrate male and female perspectives in concurrent first-person stories. Viewers have the agency to choose who they are at any point during the story. Only the scene being looked at can be heard through a unique spatial sound design. Whatever they miss might change their perspective on the overall story.

As a comedy, UTURN allows to tackle serious issues in a light tone. As an innovative VR experience, it is fun and engaging to play. As a future series it will have a more lasting impact for exploring these somewhat subtle issues in an episodic format. This is not a magic bullet, but I hope a first step forward.