science and art together: Award-winning Brazilian filmmaker competes in Cannes in a project with the participation of a Brazilian scientist

Film director Priscila Guedes and the PhD, neuroscientist Fabiano de Abreu take the name of Brazilian science to Cannes with support from the Swiss government

A production directed by a Brazilian is very close to reaching a new level internationally. With the production "Catalepsy", directed by Priscilla Guedes, the expectation is that the film will be part of a shortlist that will be featured prominently at the Cannes Film Festival, within the new market dedicated to innovation, which is the Cannes XR.

Cannes XR is a Marché du Film program dedicated to immersive technologies and innovative cinematographic content. This is the annual meeting for the XR community (the one that deals with virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality), offering a multitude of networking opportunities, financing and distribution. This program aims to build a network platform with which directors, studio executives, XR artists, independent producers, leading technology companies, Location-based and online distributors meet to discuss the role of XR technologies, inspire the art of storytelling and nurture the future of cinema and, help with mental health.

To be part of the select productions that meet these requirements, the award-winning Brazilian filmmaker Priscilla Guedes is presenting the production “Catalepsy” to be one of the chosen by Cannes XR. The choice is being made by voting and the public has until the next day 8 of June to register the vote in favor of this production.

Catalepsy: What is this and why is the name of the movie?

The name of the production comes from sleep paralysis, reveals the filmmaker. "There were people in the past buried alive because of this. Medicine used to have no tools, accessories and instruments sensitive enough to detect signs of life of some people in this frame. In addition, there are many stories that human beings were buried alive and woke up when they were already buried, or other cases that awakened during the wake, what caused a shock in ancient civilizations. People thought it was witchcraft or simply believed that those others were coming back from the dead, but they didn't even know (and didn't even imagine) that in reality they were just carriers of sleep paralysis, which is a pathology that can happen in cases of extreme tiredness, stress or depression".

Winner of six international awards throughout her career, Priscilla tells the plot of her production: "The character is called Julia. She wakes up one day in the Swiss Alps where she lives and realizes there's someone out there trying to get in, but she can't see anyone and can't open the door. Suddenly, rings the alarm and she wakes up from a deep sleep again. But she had not already woken up? That's where the story unfolds", account.

"Catalepsy" is a film in which there is a dialogue between the conscience and the subconscious, represented by the house where the protagonist lives. In the movie, reinforces Priscilla, "the way she tries to communicate with herself is shown. All this will arouse a lot of feelings in the viewer, mainly through these hormones that are intentionally activated through the story being told".

Sensory Experiences in Film

Priscila says that her trajectory in this type of production started in 2016. "At that time, the market was not ready yet, I thought it was luxury to dream, in the face of so many other priorities. With the impacts brought by Covid-19 in the world, the audience changed: films officially became the escape valve in combating depression by confinement, professional impacts in view of economic and other destabilizations".

She points out that “Virtual Reality has the property of injecting stories (and memories) in human physiology. We can create and educate more responsible human beings, once they perceive themselves better, as beings part of a whole. We can build characters, teaching with optimization of learning absorption capacity, because instead of the audience being off the screen, she is part of history, it is fully integrated with the content created".

Given this, "productions can now generate good mood for a whole week in someone who tries (no longer just watch) Virtual Reality movies, that has been produced for this purpose: The release of wellness hormones, love (Oxytocin), meditation and reward (Dopamine), adventure (Adrenalin), even the fear, that once surpassed, becomes dopamine”, complete.

Who provided consultancy in this part for the production was the PhD, neuroscientist, neuropsychologist and biologist Fabiano de Abreu. General Director of Heraclitus Research and Analysis Center, he explains how the film will produce these reactions in those who watch it.: “Our brain formats memory engrams into images, it's movies, reaches our neurons in such a real way, that increase the production of well-being-related neurotransmitters. the difference, is that it's not just any motivational movie, is a film made with the experience of a filmmaker member of the Swiss National Innovation Center whose content is scientifically proven.”

Fabiano is a member of the European Federation of Neuroscience and has the support of the Swiss National Innovation Center.

How to vote?

The voting process may seem confusing at first., but it is not. To be part of this team, the project directed by Brazilian Priscila Guedes needs public vote by the next day 8 of June. The way is as follows: Access the website get.artizen.fund/supporters. Then, register (on the right side of the page). To follow, fill all fields with your data. Soon after, you will receive an email and confirm your subscription on the platform. Then just access the site again, insert your photo and a small bio. Forward, go to the “support” page and type “Cannes XR Development Showcase” no search field. Now just vote, remembering that each person is entitled to three votes.

Who is Priscilla Guedes

Priscilla Guedes is Brazilian, studied International Relations, Visual Arts by the School of Fine Arts (UFRJ) and Cinema in France. Specialist in High Technology Image in the Film Industry and Virtual Reality Concept Designer, Augmented and Mixed (Or Extended Reality), writes and develops immersive projects based on ethical thoughts such as O Estado da Arte em XR, concept he created and was published at VRPI Magazin in New York, 2019, which she has been practicing. In 2021, the filmmaker received 6 awards for Best OCEAN Experimental Short Film, an art movie. Priscila is founder and CEO of iMAGIC Dreams, a Film Production Startup at Health-Tech XR, based in switzerland, where do you live. No country, she is also part of the Swiss Innovation Agency, to INNOSUISSE.

Fabiano de Abreu Rodrigues

PhD, neuroscientist, neuropsicólogo, biologist, historian, journalist, psychoanalyst with a degree in anthropology, advanced training in clinical nutrition, artificial intelligence, Python programming and hardware.