In late January, RT presented the VR film Auschwitz Lessons, timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Soviet liberation of the largest Nazi death camp Auschwitz (Auschwitz).

Today we publish a film about the film in which we tell how this project was created: from the first acquaintance, VR lessons, meeting with the video composer Pyotr Termen, going to the Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance and going to Poland. The storyteller in the film is Denis Semyonov, the artist and director of the VR film “Auschwitz Lessons”.

The film is completely shot on a mobile phone camera. We specifically selected this format to emphasize our search for a new way to talk about such a complex topic as the Holocaust: meaningful, but without emasculated pathos.

“From the very beginning, we wanted to shoot in such a naive manner. Before the trip, I explained the basics of shooting to the guys and sent them a PDF-memo about plans, panoramas, and syncs. Is this the era of triumphant amateurism or a complete rethinking of the movie genre, where everyone becomes a member? I dont know. But we enjoyed the process very much, ”says Anna Fedorova, producer and author of the shoot.

On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated a death camp near the Polish city of Auschwitz, where more than a million people died at the hands of the Nazis: Jews, Gypsies, prisoners of war, and others. The project team #Profits of the Victory invited students of the Moscow school No. 548 to visit the former concentration camp in order to comprehend this experience. The project combines history, personal experiences and the latest technology.

If only the Theremin sounds in the VR film itself (the composer of the project was the great-grandson of Lev Theremin, musician Peter Theremin), then in the film about the film there are already three performers. In addition to Theremin, you can hear previously unreleased music by composer Maxim Makarychev (Sirotkin, On-The-Go) and Eldar Salamov (Weary Eyes).

    “We live in the era of digital, and new times require new means of expression. The Auschwitz Lessons is an experiment in which we wanted to show how history can live and come to life in the hearts and minds of young children through immersive art. Using VR animation and innovative methods of volumetric shooting, we, it seems to me, managed to say new words in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. To say them in a language that can attract other young children and inspire them to learn more about the history of the Holocaust and the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, ”said the author of the idea, Kirill Karnovich-Valois.

    The film, combining the elements of virtual reality and the technology of three-dimensional shooting, was created as part of a large-scale social media project of the RT #Pobedy Victory television channel, launched in honor of the approaching 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Join us on YouTube, Facebook, Vkontakte, Twitter and Instagram.