Darkening was supported by the Czech Film Fund, Unity Charitable Fund, Medienboard

Berlin-Brandenburg and Filmtalent Zlín. The project was presented at East Doc Interactive 2021, Arts

Talent Market at Sheffield DocFest 2021 and at IDFA Forum 2021.

How is the world perceived by someone with depression? Director and protagonist Ondřej guides us through diverse landscapes associating the story of his struggle with depression since puberty. We share his feelings during the first depressive episodes at a family trip in his childhood, at university when striving for perfect results, at work in his everyday fights with the depressive “darkening”. Through animation, combining a stylized form of Ondřej’s environment and abstract images of his emotions, the viewers will experience and understand what it is like to live with this illness, how to tackle it and what mechanisms are used by people with depression to feel better. Most of the interactions are voice controlled. The main character Ondřej finds out that his tool to get the depression under control is his voice. He uses humming, singing and even shouting as a calming and relieving technique.

Director: Ondřej Moravec
Screenplay: Alice Krajčírová, Ondřej Moravec
Producer: Hana Blaha Šilarová for Frame Films
Co-producers: Gayatri Parameswaran,
Felix Gaedtke for NowHere Media
Robin Pultera for BRAINZ Immersive
Visual Concept & Lead Art Director: Bára Anna Stejskalová
Art Directors: Moritz Mayerhofer, Long Phi Trieu
Head of Technology: Ondřej Pultera

Art Producer: Hynek Svatoš
Developers: Jozef Barančik, Felix Lange, Kryštof Šuk
UX Designers: Petr Slavík, Šimon Leška, Zdeněk Blaha
3D Designers: Sergey Arzhanik, Alena Bendová, Petr Kollarčík
Music: Billy Mello
Sound Designer: Tomáš Oramus
Project Managers: Violeta Ivanova, Julie Šislerová

www.darkeningvr.com

© 2021 made by J.M. with love