As previously mentioned, “The Chronicles of Piercing Ken” was in attendance at the Tribeca Film Festival and it was actually our very first time at this event. We were also doing it as a member of the press and sporting what was defined as the “Chambers Pass”. The quantifications are still rather new to me but certain badges allow for certain things and others do not. One of the events we were able to participate in was the Cinema 360 series of immersive films. There were four sessions in this series and each consisted of three films that had a connected theme. For these sessions the audience would sit in a spacious room in a spinable chair wearing a set of headphones and goggles. I’ve broken up my thoughts on each of the sessions in their own narrative for your consumption and am starting with the second based on a misunderstanding about the schedule.
Theme 2: Go Team!
Space Buddies: It takes a special team of astronauts to survive the voyage to Mars without going insane. This crew will be lucky to make it past launch.
Mr. Buddha: The short crime story takes place in a car, following Dong-Tzu, Ching-Tsai, and Ni-Sang, who get their hands on a valuable antique only to have the fruits of their labor shared with the newcomer, A-Che.
11.11.18: A few minutes before the suspension of fighting in World War on November 11, 1918, soldiers have to face a series of decisions.
Piercing Ken Thoughts: This was surely an interesting experience for me and I say this as someone who has never participated in watching a film short in this fashion. While I am trying to not spoil anything in this brief summary, I will say that I loved these three shorts. “11.11.18” was not in English but follows the obviously difficult decision making that a group of soldiers are making from within the relative “safety” of a bunker. There are men injured and some dying and the tensions are high to say the least. The viewers perspective was from an injured soldier. “Mr. Buddha” is about an ancient artifact and we seem to watch from its perspective. The very precarious situation about this relic only goes to show that there is no honor among thieves. “Space Buddies” concluded this session and it was a fun adventure in the cockpit of a space capsule. It was an animated feature as well which was very appealing. I left this experience very eager to get to the rest of them and these will be summarized in similar fashion as well. Stay tuned.
Official Website: http://www.tribecafilmfestival.com