Film Quarterly has been interested for some time in establishing a critical approach to works made in Virtual Reality (VR). Homay King had begun conducting interviews with Shari Frilot to that same end. FQ then invited them to make that dialogue public with a conversation on stage at UC Santa Cruz on the implications of the VR platform to be shared with FQ readers.
Homay King’s book, her second, is the kind that warrants more than one reading. But there is no awkward or dense prose, often a hallmark of theoretical texts that turn reading into an academic exercise. King talks with FQ Associate Editor Regina Longo about the process of writing this book, and her new research interests. Read the column then download the free chapter from the book chosen for FQ readers.
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) is littered with familiar signifiers for an unfamiliar Japan: streets ablaze with neon pictographs, bowing concierges bustling after guests in a high-tech hotel, pop-star hipsters with multicolored hair sporting synthetic fashions. Marketed as a comedy, the film prompts snickers of amusement from its Western audience.