Jan Kounen Discusses Virtual Reality Experience ‘Ayahuasca’

“Jan Kounen, the Netherlands-born French film filmmaker whose best-known credits are “Dobermann‎” and “Blueberry,” has delivered his most personal work so far with “Ayahuasca,” a virtual reality experience exploring shamanic medicine from the Peruvian jungle.

Produced by France’s leading VR outfit Altas V (“Gloomy Eyes,” “Spheres”), Luxembourg’s A_Bahn and Small studios, “Ayahuasca” was created by Kounen based on his multiple trips to the Peruvian Amazon where he participated in the Ayahuasca rituals. Guided by a Shaman, the 11-minute immersive journey recreates the psychedelic and spiritual effects of listening to meditative chanting and drinking a plant-based tea known as Ayahuasca which is meant to cleanse the mind and body.

“Ayahuasca” world premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to play at festivals in Geneva, Mexico and Arles. It has just rolled onto Steam, the video game platform and on the online store Vive HTC. The experience also bowed at the Diversion location-based and cultural institutions in multiple locations, as well as the Amsterdam Eye Museum…” Continue reading