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NOWHERE | A cinematic virtual reality experience

Nowhere is a virtual reality short fiction film that revolves around you. In this psychological thriller, you are a person suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. After having committed an act of violence, you find yourself confined to a psychiatric hospital, trapped in a recurring nightmare of guilt and consequence.

“Nowhere” is a 360° virtual reality film with spatial sound. For optimal immersion, please download the Original file (3840 × 2160 / 3.084GB) and watch the film with a Head Mounted Display and headphones.
If you are planning to watch “Nowhere” in a browser without a headset or headphones, please reconsider immediately! Virtual reality films are designed to invite viewers to experience space. Without a headset or headphones, the immersiveness of “Nowhere” is reduced to insignificance.

  • Mathieu van den Berk
    Director
    Smoking and Other Crimes, Bro's Before Ho's, Meet Me in Montenegro
  • Lee Mason
    Writer
  • Danny Hollander
    Producer
    Smoking and Other Crimes, Those Who Feel the Fire Burning
  • Peter More
    Key Cast
  • Kiki Hohnen
    Key Cast
  • Sarah & Freya Eshuys
    Key Cast
  • Carlos Dalla-Fiore
    Sound
    A Twist in the Fabric of Space, Shipwreck, Those Who Feel the Fire Burning
  • Project Type:
    Short, Virtual Reality, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Psychological Thriller, VR, Fiction
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 1 second
  • Completion Date:
    January 20, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    48,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Netherlands
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    NOKIA OZO
  • Aspect Ratio:
    Stereo 360º
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Mathieu van den Berk

Mathieu van den Berk (1974) is a Dutch actor and director, based in Amsterdam. As an actor, van de Berk has appeared in various theatre productions, as well as in a number of feature films. From 2004 onward, he shifted his focus to writing and directing films for clients such as Nokia and MTV. In 2008, van den Berk directed his cinematic debut 'Smoking and Other Crimes'. 'Nowhere' is his first virtual reality short film.

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Director Statement

I first came into contact with virtual reality in arcade halls during the late eighties. At the time, the quality was poor, but I got the idea. When The Lawnmower Man came out in 1992, I was a student of computer science, writing my thesis on virtual reality. During the two decades that followed, I studied theatre, acted and directed. All the while in the background, technological developments continued to make virtual reality feel increasingly real.

In 2016, I was approached with the request to develop a cinematic virtual reality experience. Because, in virtual reality, the viewer is situated at the center of a 360 degree stereoscopic environment, I felt it was essential to have the audience experience themselves as the focal point of the story. Even though cinematic virtual reality lacks real interactivity, I wanted the viewer to feel as if they were truly engaging with the characters around them.

From the outset, I was determined to use real actors for the film. The main reason for this was that, for me personally, the most immersive cinematic virtual reality experiences have always involved actual people. In some cases, the stereoscopic view of a real human has felt so intimate that I have felt compelled to look away. And I could!

Fascinated by this suggestion of interaction, I conceived a story designed to make the audience feel attracted to one character and repulsed by another, much like a “good cop/bad cop” routine. In collaboration with a writer and a producer, I crafted Nowhere, a cinematic virtual reality experience that revolves around guilt. As the viewer assumes the perspective of a patient in a forensic psychiatric hospital, they engage with an empathic medical professional and a troubled villain.

In my work as a director, my goal is to present audiences with surreal puzzles to solve. Viewers are invited to construct their own interpretations as they fully embody the experience and immerse themselves in a virtual reality that they are actively co-creating with every glance.