An image from ‘MLK: The Time Is Now’ Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic 1963 speech ‘I Have a Dream’ and his work exposing systemic inequities is the subject of a 16-minute English short film. MLK: Now is the time By Fabien Limbert. Imagine taking the story forward by playing a game while watching a movie. Using virtual reality, the viewing experience becomes interactive and thus, immersive.

Film lovers in Hyderabad can now experience this film and some other titles in VR (Virtual Reality) mode at the ongoing film festival ‘Vroom: A Virtual Reality Film Experience’ organized by Goethe Zentrum Hyderabad and Annapurna College of Film and Media.

The festival, this week at Hamburg Hall in Banjara Hills, Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad campus, is free and open to all. The enthusiasm for the festival is palpable as I stroll on weekday mornings. The hall has separate counters corresponding to the six titles available for viewing. Students from the acting department of Annapurna College of Film and Media are game to guide the visitors to ensure a smooth viewing experience.

The films are divided into three categories – Up in the Air (taking the audience on a high-flying journey), Stories of Mankind (a contemporary reinterpretation of stories and myths) and Back to the Future (taking the audience on an insight into Understanding history to help in social and political issues.

What I started my VR movie watching journey with victory over the skyAs soon as I get comfortable with the VR headset, I’m transported to the world of how insects, birds, and even reptiles defy gravity to take to the sky, as in David Attenborough’s History of Evolution. And explains the aerodynamics of wings and wings.

Film school students highly recommend animation film Reimagined Volume II: The Palace But since I saw some students waiting for my turn, I chose his other recommendation, MLK: Now is the timeThis interactive VR movie is divided into different chapters and requires us, the audience, to participate in order to advance the story.

For example, the film tries to explain how taxes, policing, civic amenities, and voting rights work for different races through a game (Monopoly), encouraging viewers to roll dice and pick cards. Are (of course, literally). At one point, the viewer is privy to King’s historic speech as it unfolds in Washington DC, the essence of which, the film underlines, continues to resonate in the contemporary context.

(Vroom: A Virtual Reality Film Experience can be seen till November 17; 11 am to 7 pm Hamburg Hall, Goethe Zentrum Hyderabad, Road No. 3, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad)