Jason Loftus' 'Eternal Spring VR' Based on Award Winning Documentary Sets Release Date

Eternal Spring VR directed by Jason Loftus — Eternal Spring VR

Eternal Spring VR is the virtual reality experience based on the animated documentary feature Eternal Spring, Canada’s Official Submission to the 2023 Academy Awards® for Best International Feature Film

Release Date

Directed by Jason Loftus (Ask No Questions), who also directed the feature film version that claimed top audience prizes at Hot Docs, Thessaloniki, and elsewhere, Eternal Spring VR will be available on Meta and Steam VR storefronts beginning March 14. Eternal Spring VR will be free on Steam for the month of March to mark its release.

Synopsis

Eternal Spring VR is an animated virtual reality documentary that brings us inside the world of a real-life survivor of religious persecution in China. The immersive film explores the repression of the Falun Gong community in China, which was the subject of the feature film, from the POV of one of the survivors, Jin Xuezhe.

This immersive, 360^o accompaniment to the feature film Eternal Spring (Hot Docs winner and Canada’s official 2023 Oscar® submission) features original recorded testimony and vivid artwork from acclaimed Chinese illustrator Daxiong (Star Wars, Justice League comics), brought to life in animation.

While it can be experienced with the headset alone, a custom soundscape was designed to trigger sensations in the Woojer haptic feedback vest, heightening the immersion by providing tactile feedback as players are arrested on the street and subjected to a police interrogation.

Eternal Spring (長春) VR, which works as a standalone experience, also adds a new dimension to the animated documentary feature Eternal Spring (長春), which was Canada’s official submission to the 2023 Academy Awards® for Best International Feature Film and also qualified at the Oscars® for Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature. Eternal Spring has played in 86 film festivals on six continents, winning 26 awards and earning another 27 nominations.

Eternal Spring VR was recently named one of three nominees at the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Immersive Experience – Non-Fiction.

“We’re very grateful to the Academy for this recognition, and offer our congratulations to the other nominees,” said Loftus.