Songs for a Passerby is a 2023 Dutch surrealist virtual reality opera film directed by Celine Daemen and written by Olivier Herter.
[1] Songs for a Passerby is a virtual reality experience during which the audience autonomously walks through an abandoned city landscape, wearing a VR head set.
Passing by various scenes, such as a choir of murmuring people, a dying horse lying on the ground and metro commuters with audible thoughts, the film allows the audience to step outside reality for a moment.
[4] Director Daemen herself described the film as an opera, since the musical dramaturgy was especially important to her during the production.
This is the first prize of the Extended Reality section of the world leading art exhibition Venice Biennale.