The Changing Same

Year: 2018

Premiere: PBS/SPARK

About The Film

The Changing Same is an immersive, episodic virtual reality experience where the participant travels through time and space to witness the connected historical experiences of racial injustice in America. It’s a respectful, haunting story infused with magical realism and Afrofuturism about the uninterrupted cycle of the history of racial oppression-past and present. The Changing Same seeks to examine how the U.S.’s legacy of racial violence continues to influence contemporary issues such as mass incarceration, crime, and justice. The Changing Same uses time travel and magical realism to enable participants to experience the evolution of racial violence in the US and make connections between the past and present, as well as contemplate how our history of racism continues to have a lasting effect on human conditions in the US today. At the end of the experience, participants travel to an afro-futurist world to imagine a more equitable future for all, one that is attentive and to the violences of the past. The Changing Same explores the critical role that our history plays in forming a deeper and more meaningful understanding of our present, and the social and cultural conditions that continue to shape us as a nation.

AWARDS

  • Winner, Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Narrative, Tribeca Film Festival (2021)
  • Nominee, Outstanding Interactive Media – Innovative Storytelling, Primetime Emmy Awards (2021)
  • Nominee, Outstanding Interactive Media: Innovation, News & Documentary Emmy Awards (2021)
  • Official Selection New Frontier, Sundance Film Festival (2021)