Virtual Reality Project: Paris attack of 9.1.2015 from the perspective of hostages

On 9 January 2015, two days after the attack on the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo", there was a terrorist hostage-taking in the Jewish supermarket "Hyper Cacher" in Paris. In the 360° video project "Berlin Paris Terror", the events are told from the perspective of three hostages of the Paris attack.

The perpetrator shot four people in the small supermarket and held the others hostage for hours.

What makes this story special and worth remembering in the long term are the exact circumstances of the hostage-taking. Almost like a return of the NS-In this story, several Jews hide in the cellar for hours. The hostage-taker asks everyone present about their religion. One hostage is Catholic - is that why she was spared?

What happens to people who may be counting down the last minutes of their lives in the dark? How do you manage to stay human and protect others? Where does the strength come from that still sustains you? The content of the project focuses on the topic of humanity and helpfulness as a way in which society can meet the challenges of terrorism.

The film gives a brief insight in an impressive way.

Back in December, WDR used a new narrative form, the 360° video, to address the topic of terror.

VR project combines real images with animated

The focus was on the attack on the Berlin Christmas market in December 2016, which was told from the perspective of three first responders. In addition to the documentary accounts of witnesses and victims, WDR primarily relies on the use of drawn 360-degree animations to translate the feelings journalistically and artistically.

"We want to be haunting but not frightening," says project manager Maik Bialk, describing the narrative balancing act. "We deliberately avoided using disturbing mobile phone videos of eyewitnesses."

WDR has already published several major journalistic VR projects in recent months. This year, "360 Grad Kölner Dom" won the Grimme Online Award 2017, "Inside Auschwitz" received the German Web Video Award this year and was also nominated for the Grimme Online Award.

Source: WDR / Press portal / Youtube