Virtual reality documentary at SXSW invites you to an intimate conversation on abortion.
When you pop on the Oculus virtual reality headset to watch"The Choice," you're greeted by a young woman with blue braids sitting comfortably in jeans and a sweatshirt about 3 feet away from you. A black void surrounds you both with soothing music, and you're offered some get-to-know-you questions to ask: Where are you from? What do you do?
The woman you're meeting is Kristen, a nanny and activist in Austin who chose, facing life-threatening complications, to have a late-term abortion – a choice which is the subject of empathetic scrutiny in this short film from Polish Canadian director and sociologist Joanne Popinska and cinematographer Tom C. Hall.
The isolation of a VR headset eliminates the communal element of watching a film with outside influence, and interactive questions further a sense of reciprocal intimate conversation with Kristen."I was like, ‘Oh my god, it looks like I'm talking to myself,'" Kristen recalled of the first time she watched it."That was the moment I knew that this was powerful, that this was going to do good.
As personal as abortion is, trust between Popinska, Hall, and their interviewees was paramount. Popinska began reaching out to abortion access foundations in Canada in 2018, gathering written accounts for the film's website, and printing posters to distribute to clinics calling for anyone willing to tell their story on camera. Kristen responded to the call, and after a year of talking the filmmakers flew to Austin for the interview during SXSW 2020, right under the pandemic wire.
Though Kristen's story happened five years ago, the film remains painfully relevant. Popinska's home country of Poland effectively banned abortion last year, and Texas' Senate Bill 8 has provoked a national battle that may possibly overturn. But Popinska and Hall have hope: Popinska said if they can secure the funding to continue making"The Choice" into a series, having already interviewed others in Canada and Austin, they want to expand to more of the U.S.
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