Gone Gitmo at LABoral FEEDFORWARD Exhibition in Gijon, Spain

We created an avatar for the exhibition, LABoralAvatar Zuta who is unable to leave the SIM. When he tries to leave, this notification appears: "no esta autorizado en el destino."

Gone Gitmo at PICNIC '09 Reality Continuum Panel

Also on the panel: Antonio Camara and moderator, Suzanne Stefanic

IPSRESS Experience in Barcelona

Nonny de la Peña and Peggy Weil went to Barcelona to create a VR Gitmo demo at the Event Lab with Mel Slater and Maria Sanchez-Vives -- using none other than Mark Bolas's FAKESPACE system.
We presented it at a conference on the Art & Science, The Science of Perception in Benasque, Spain.
El Pais covered it here: Presos de un Guantánamo virtual
A short video of the experience we made is here: Towards Immersive Journalism: The IPSRESS Experience

ENDZ Dextor visits GONE GITMO

ENDZ2ENDZ visits GITMO

MIPTV Photos

On the Cover of DOCUMENTARY MAGAZINE

Gone Gitmo was featured alongside amazing films like Waltz With Bashir in latest cover story for the International Documentary Association's magazine Documentary.

In an article titled When Docs Get Graphic: Animation Meets Actuality by Beige Luciano-Adams in IDA, the journal focused on work redrawing the boundaries of documentary:

"Some methods take more liberty than others. For filmmaker Nonny de la Peña, Second Life technology allowed her to expnd on issues treated in her prior documentary, Unconstitutional (2004). With USC Interactive Media adjunct professor Peggy Weil, De al Peña created a virtual Guantánamo Bay Prison, called Gone Gitmo. Here, users can experience first-hand - through their personal avatar-what it might feel like to don the orange jupsuit and have your rights indefinitely suspended. Using writings and testimonials of actual detainees to shape the virtual world, the project aims at new means of connecting viewers to the issues."

Full .pdf forthcoming.

MIPDOC & MIPTV Speaking Schedules

MIPDOC Cannes, Sunday 29 March
15:00 Grand Salon, Carlton Hotel
COLLABORATIVE DOCUENTARY MAKING
This session will discuss on how interactivity can be used differently to engage new audiences as well as to influence the development of the documentary storytelling itself.

Moderator:
Heather Croall, festival director, Sheffield Docfest
Speakers:
Patrice Barrat, Producer, ARTICLE Z
Daniel Cross, Producer / Director, EyeSteelFilm
Nonny De La Pena, Documentary and Transmedia Producer, Pyedog Productions
Adrienne Van Eeden, Producer and Project Manager, Doxa Productions
Peggy Weil, Professor, USC SCA Interactive Media Division



MIPTV Cannes. Tuesday 31 March
16:30 Auditorium A, Level 3
IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING IN VIRTUAL WORLDS
Virtual environments provide new opportunities for immersive storytelling. This uniquely innovative session, led by two award winning interactive media and documentary producers will explore new forms of scripted cinematic events, integration of video within virtual environments and how avatars can create deep emotional engagement, and viewer identity. Projects include: Gone Gitmo and Wall Jumpers, installations in Second Life.

Moderator: Ferhan Cook, President, Any Screen Productions Ltd.
Speakers:
Nonny De La Pena, Documentary and Transmedia Producer, Pyedog Productions
Peggy Weil, Professor, USC SCA Interactive Media Division

A visit from UC Irvine

Elizabeth Losh, behind the blog virtualpolitik, brought her UC Irvine Humanities Core Class for a tour of Gone Gitmo.

Virtual Gitmo Featured on PBS

Frontline Video interviews Bernhard Drax on Virtual Gitmo

Video blogger Bernhard Drax talks about the "Gone Gitmo" project, a re-creation of Guantanamo Bay in the virtual world Second Life. Bernhard Drax, better known as Draxtor Despres in SL, has carved out a niche as a virtual reporter specializing in international issues and human rights. Looking like a caricature of a curious NPR reporter, Draxtor showed up at a recent protest in SL's Virtual Israel where Palestinians and Israelis debated who was at fault for the bloodshed in Gaza. Draxtor talked with iWitness about his work and in particular a report he did on the "Gone Gitmo" SL site that has drawn international attention.

Gone Gitmo presented at UNLV Hank Greenspun School of Journalism

Virtual Worlds and Interpretive Communities: Opportunties for Global Dialogue
Online religion, Cyberspace law and order, Avatar mediated cinema and virtual games will be among the topics discussed at an international conference, slated for February 16-17 in UNLV’s Greenspun Hall. Hosted by the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies and the Sammy Ofer School of Communication.
Las Vegas Sun article about the conference.

CANNES! GONE GITMO at MIP-TV 2009

Ferhan Cook has invited us to speak at MIPTV 2009 We will be presenting Tuesday, March 31st on Ferhan's panel: Reinventing StoryTelling

ACM/ACE in Yokohama

We presented a short paper titled "Avatar Mediated Cinema" describing our work integrating cinematic techniques within a virtual environment at ACM/ACE 2008 (Advances in Computer Entertainment) in Yokohama this December.