CTFF 2025 Presents: STAY ALIVE MY SON: A VR SHORT FILM EXPERIENCE (Free Event)
STAY ALIVE MY SON
Inspired by true events & based on the memoirs of Pin Yathay, “Tu Vivras, Mon Fils” (Stay Alive, My Son)
Cast: Elodie Yung, Lucas Sigler, Arnold Chun, Abraham Sigler, Kostas Filippoglou, Vincent Rodriguez III
Logline:
Stay Alive My Son: A True Story About A Father’s Search for His Son (SAMS) is based on a true story and a technically groundbreaking odyssey where you are transported into the life of Yathay Pin, a Cambodian genocide survivor to witness the world through his eyes, urvivor to experience the world through his eyes, living every raw emotion. .
Whether playing in VR or PC in first of third person, every moment is an authentic dive into history where every decision unfolds a powerful story about the trauma of family separation, survival, and the power of hope.
This journey is more the life of one man but resonates in modern day stories of family separation; it’s a bridge to the past, an exploration of the depths of human endurance, and a testament to the indomitable spirit of love, perseverance, forgiveness, and healing.
FREE EVENT – SIGN UP NOW: CLICK HERE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2025. 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM @ The Ice House Arts Complex
DIRECTOR, Victoria Bousis
Victoria, a career prosecutor turned innovative filmmaker and technology enthusiast, began her journey seeking justice for the disenfranchised. Transitioning into film production, she broke barriers with impactful stories showcased at prestigious film festivals.
As a filmmaker and technologist, Victoria embraced emerging technology to pioneer the future of storytelling through the medium of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Her directorial debut was the groundbreaking immersive and interactive film, Stay Alive My Son, was an official selection in Cannes with Chapter One and premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Chapter Two premiered in SXSW and won the PGA Innovation Award for 2023, making movie history as the first interactive and immersive full-length movie in VR. Later winning Best Experience and Game of the Year, Best Social Impact, Best Narrative by Games for Change and Best Social Impact Experience in Europe, Stay Alive My Son was in contention for the Academy Emmy Nomination.
Outside the headset, in collaboration with the UNHCR, Stay Alive My Son is empowering change by humanizing the stories of refugees and migrants and fostering global policy change for family reunification and the preservation of human dignity. In furtherance of this mission, Stay Alive My Son has been showcased in over 28 countries globally at major festivals, technology summits, and various social impact conferences.
In development is an immersive fashion show experience with the iconic fashion designer, Peter Dundas. Also in development and in collaboration with a long-standing publication and MIT, is a large scale-museum project featuring icons of our era with the use of artificial intelligence to dynamically change the narrative.
Victoria is a member of the Academy’s Emerging Technology Group and the Producers’ Guild of America. She is considered a visionary in XR, spatial computing, digital humans, artificial intelligence and ethics. She’s been a keynote speaker at TEDx MIT, TEDxKlondozidika, National Broadcasters Association, NFT NYC, Hollywood Productions Association, SIGGRAPH, to name a few. Victoria will be the recipient of the United Nations Humanitarian Award by the Order of St. George and King Charles on April 27, 2025.
Victoria holds a Master’s in Media, Technology, and Innovation from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and a Juris Doctorate in International Law, Intellectual Law, and Human Rights.
Director’s Comment on “Stay Alive, My Son: A True Story About A Father’s Love”
Nine years after finding the book in Cambodia, visiting the country and researching history extensively, I was inspired by Yathay’s unwavering quest for his son, justice, and closure. I wanted to leverage technology to break the rules of traditional storytelling and give agency to the audience to educate, bring awareness to younger generations, and inspire change.
Immersive storytelling invokes deeper physiological and neurological impact because it heightens your senses and provokes complex emotions of joy, grief, guilt, and empowerment to inspire change, less able via traditional mediums. By interacting with an elderly digital representation of Yathay today, I sought to humanize the experience and deepen the connection to the Player before we became him. By having his hands & experiencing his story, we personalize the story and trauma of family separation to compel the Player to act as change-agent for family unity.
Even if tracing is accomplished, today, the process of reunification is inefficient, leaving parents and children isolated, helpless, and traumatized by ambiguous loss.. The experience’s mission is to change the narrative of family separation in the real world through change agents – the audience.
It is an inspirational story about the unbreakable bond between a parent and child and the remarkable courageof ordinary people, who triumph over adversity, through relentless action. Augmented by technology, stories like this remind us of our power to transcend adversity and become beacons of hope for others.