A Long Goodbye tells the story of Ida, a 72-year-old pianist living with dementia. In this animated, interactive VR experience, we walk in Ida’s shoes. We experience a day in her life, as her reality is fading. The apartment, where she spent a lifetime with her beloved husband Daniel, first feels empty and undefined. When we interact with objects and play the tape recordings of her husband, her playful world gradually comes to life, as if drawn in paint before our eyes.
Like pieces of a puzzle, memories and conversations help Ida to rediscover herself. But we also discover Daniel’s struggles, as he hopes to stay connected and realizes their remaining time together may be short. A Long Goodbye is a poetic experience about the impact of dementia, but above all it is about love and the long goodbye of two lovers who shared a life together.
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WRITTEN & DIRECTED by Kate Voet & Victor Maes
CAST Elizabeth Counsell, Richard Wells, Marlies Heuer, Derek de Lint
COMPOSER Joep Beving
CG SUPERVISOR Gael Chaize
ART DIRECTOR Daniel Balage
DIGITAL ART STUDIO Velvet Flare
LEAD DEVELOPER Frederik Smolders for Polygoat
SOUND DESIGNERS Niels van der Leest & Lars Tesselaar for Game Audio Squad
ADDITIONAL 2D ANIMATIONS Mathieu Jadin, Tom Lemmens, Pieter Vanluffelen
ADDITIONAL DESIGN & CODING Victor Maes
PRODUCERS An Oost, Emmy Oost
CO-PRODUCERS Donato Rotunno, Richard Valk
A CO-PRODUCTION BY Cassette for timescapes, Tarantula, Valk productions
SUPPORTED BY Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Film Fund Luxembourg, Netherlands Film Fund, Creative Europe MEDIA of the European Union, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, written with the support of the New Media Fund of PICTANOVO with the support of the Hauts-de-France Region and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée, deAuteurs