VR Short 'Reimagined Volume III: Young Thang' Premieres At SXSW

Virtual Reality (VR) is a whole new dimension in animated storytelling. And it's one we're really only beginning to see the potential of. The problem is that VR isn't that accessible for a lot of people. So it might be that your best place to experience it for yourself is at a festival. Making its debut this week at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas is the new VR animation Reimagined Volume III: Young Thang.

Reimagined is an entirely female-led, produced and directed anthology series which takes audiences through storybook-style tales, showcasing lesser-known fables and mythology in gender-inclusive experiences.

Written and directed by Melissa Joyner and co-directed by Julie Cavaliere and Michaela Ternasky-Holland, the film is based on the Nigerian fable The Woman With Two Skins. It follows Young Thang, a human girl living in The Community, a place where humans are forbidden and considered dangerous and ugly. Her guardians urge her to wear a second skin to disguise herself and keep safe. After the pressure to conform pushes her to the brink, she unknowingly puts her beloved guardians and the whole Community at risk. Can Young Thang find the courage to uncover her true self and save the beings that suppress and discriminate against her?

"Reimagined Volume III: Young Thang is about belonging. In today's world, it's all too common to feel the pressure to conform, to put on a metaphorical second skin cloaking your full identity. In Young Thang’s world, a distinct two and three-dimensional visual style not only immerses the audience in unconventional beauty but also symbolizes the challenges we encounter when our uniqueness is obscured and the transformation the world may reap from embracing our multidimensionality" says Joyner.

"The VR animated film is ablaze with the use of colour, animation, and dynamic soundscapes, the film immerses the audience in a world that is both real and magical."

The film is produced in collaboration with Meta Quest.

The film is directed by Melissa Joyner, Julie Cavaliere and Michaela Ternasky-Holland and written by Joyner. It is produced by Julie Cavaliere, Michaela Ternasky-Holland, Ryan Genji Thomas, Melissa Joyner, and Zoe Roellin. The executive producers are Goro Fujita, and Sarah Malkin. Zoe Roellin is the cinematographer and production designer. Music was written by Simon TaufiQue.

It features the voices of Julyza Commodore, Debra Wilson, Nicola Delgado, John Eric Bentley, Chris Paul Morales, Rebecca Lee Lerman, and Jackie Alexander.

The film will be available to watch from 11.00AM to 6 PM From March 10-12 at Fairmont, 101 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701 on the Third Level.

Check out the trailer, below