'The Descent,' directed by Tatiana Collet-Apraxine wins 2023 Immersive Storytelling Award

'The Descent' Tatiana Collet-Apraxine, with permission

The Descent, directed by Tatiana Collet-Apraxine, has won the Immersive Storytelling Award at the 2023 MY HERO International Film Festival. The stunning animated Virtual Reality (VR) piece takes the audience on a journey through a mystical Underworld, combining breath taking visuals and soundbites of interviews to explore the theme of grief and loss.

Tatiana Collet-ApraxineTatiana Collet-Apraxine, with permission

Tatiana Collet-Apraxine is a French Virtual Reality creator and real time artist, based in London in the United Kingdom. She completed a master’s degree in Immersive Storytelling at the Royal Holloway University in 2022, and told MY HERO that she is passionate about, “the potential of VR and XR to alter our sense of presence, consciousness, and to enhance the impact of the age-old art of telling stories.”

VR allows the audience to immerse themselves into a story in ways that haven’t been possible before. The medium, argues Collet-Apraxine, lends itself perfectly to exploring themes like grief and loss. She told MY HERO:

“The reason why I believe VR lends itself so well to exploring themes such as grief, is that it creates a liminal space of consciousness, of presence, a place to experience the way that creators dream the world. VR has the power if used effectively to allow the viewer to step into something somewhat related to an altered state of consciousness, a dreamspace, where the ancient and deep power of storytelling takes over.”

Collet-Apraxine’s decision to explore the theme of grief in the film was inspired by her own childhood experience of loss and the impact it had on her life. She describes the experience as, “a quest of mythic resonance, of facing demons, processing overwhelming emotions in a society that doesn’t necessarily allow the needed space to grieve,” and hopes that the film creates that space for grief that isn’t always allowed for in everyday life. She also notes, however, that despite the darkness that comes with the subject of grief, her intention is to leave audiences feeling uplifted; “Within the darkness,” she tells MY HERO, “there is great light and hope to be found.”

Creating The Descent allowed Collet-Apraxine to deepen her understanding of the many aspects involved in creating a VR film. She had to learn how to direct, write, edit, create 3D images, just to name of a few of the roles she took on during the film’s creation. Creating the film also allowed her to reach out to some of her personal heroes. She explains:

“Some of the voices included in my films are definitely some of my personal heroes. Cheryl Strayed's writing on her own journey through grief, in her book Wild was absolutely astonishing and so profound. One of the absolute highlights of this experience for me, and to be honest, probably of my life, was receiving an email from her, while I was seeking permission to use her voice, saying she had watched my film and was honored to be a small part of it. Gabor Mate, whose voice is also included in my film, is I believe one of the most important voices of our time, and his work on trauma is truly monumental, and so needed for this suffering world we live in.”

In The Descent, Tatiana Collet-Apraxine has created a world in which audiences can explore the depths of emotion one has to navigate after experiencing a loss, whilst being uplifted and exposed to the light within the darkness.

Still taken from 'The Descent'Tatiana Collet-Apraxine, with permission

You can watch The Descent here.

Full list of credits:

• Music: Lacrimosa / Zbigniew Preisner (with permission)
• Caprichio Arabe
• Voices in order of appearance:
• Cheryl Strayed (Peninsula Open Space Trust conference)
• Jen Hatmaker (What we win when we lose it all - we can do hard things)
• Joan Didion (Interview with Rafael Pi Roman)
• Dr. Maya Angelou on Loving and Letting Go | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network
• Gabor Maté on Understanding Grief as an Antidote to Trauma | Psychotherapy Networker
• David Kessler | Finding Meaning in Our Grief with David Kessler | Soundstrue
• Final piece written and recorded by Tatiana Collet-Apraxine

About the MY HERO International Film Festival:

The My Hero Film Festival is an annual event dedicated to showcasing films that celebrate the power of the human spirit. Hosted by Eva Haller, a prominent philanthropist and advocate for social change, the festival provides a platform for filmmakers to share inspirational stories of everyday heroes. Thanks to generous sponsors, prizes are awarded to elementary, middle school, high school, college and professionals in a variety of categories including documentary, narrative, music video, animation, experimental, and more.

The festival aims to inspire audiences to recognize the heroism in their own lives and encourage positive actions in their communities. Learn more.

About the Immersive Storytelling Award:

The Immersive Storytelling award celebrates innovative Virtual Reality pieces that promote creativity, activism, engagement and social good.

Find out more and view the previous winners here.

Join us for the Awards Celebration on Saturday November 18th at 2pm (PST). Festival winners and their heroes will be on hand to answer questions and share their stories. Short clips from select films will be screened. Awards are given to winners at Elementary, Middle School, High School, College and Professional levels. Register HERE.