Chibok girls: North East hosts Virtual Reality premiere film show
A virtual reality (VR) based documentary film, “Daughters of Chibok”, produced by a Nigerian firm, VR 360 Stories, has been released to the public at the North East Humanitarian Innovation Hub in Yola on Wednesday.
The public screening of the documentary, which is the only film from Africa that is currently competing among 12 other VR films from across the globe in the linear content category at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, was introduced to selected journalists, members of humanitarian groups and legislators.
In a speech, the Chief Executive Officer, North East Innovation Hub, Ahmad Tijjani Moddibo said the production company, VR 360 Stories had previously collaborated with the hub to premiere the first Virtual Reality film in Nigeria titled “In Bakassi” which had since screened at the film festivals in Cairo, Berlin as well as at the Africa Tech Summit.
“Following on the success of “In Bakassi”, the VR 360 Stories has released a second visual advocacy project titled “Daughters of Chibok”, a film that highlighted the impact of the kidnapped Chibok girls on the affected families and paints a portrait of pain, loss, courage and hope”,he said.
Moddibo said the innovation hub would collaborate with the production firm to set up the Virtual Reality Training Academy at the Yola campus of the Hub to train next generation of innovative story tellers.
He noted that other innovative activities being harnessed at the Hub included a 3D laboratory and internship program for production of prosthetic limbs for amputees, training of 100 women on coding and entrepreneurship and partnership with AIME Australia to mentor over 100 secondary school students.
Our reporter, who was at the screening, reports that viewing the film which visualised the condition and expectations of the families of the more than 100 abducted Chibok girls still in captivity, through VR technology was more immersive and interactive than the traditional video technology.
The “Daughters of Chibok” movie director, Joel Kachi Benson said Nigeria couldn’t afford to lag behind and must struggle to catch up with the rest of the world in the VR technology.
“Through this documentary and with your help, we can lend our support and bring for the first time, the reality of Chibok for the world to see, harnessing the power of humanitarian innovation”.