a VR Documentary Play / Mixed Reality Installation

Germany/Italy | 23 min | 2024

Language: englisch, tagalog

BELOW DECK is a VR theatre play that combines documentary and fictional means, immersing you behind the luxurious façade of a cruise ship. In the role of a tourist, you are invited to autonomously discover scenic miniatures of compelling stories of vulnerability and resilience performed by real crew members from the Philippines. More than one-third of all crew members worldwide are Filipino, living and working below deck for several months without any days off. As an addressed observer of a quirky crew show rehearsal, you find yourself in a Lynchian scenario, oscillating between being a secretly invited guest and a voyeur. What persists is the question: Shouldn’t we risk the glimpse behind the curtain to discover what remains hidden from our perception?

directors MARTINA MAHLKNECHT & MARTIN PRINOTH
screenplay JAN EICHBERG, MARTINA MAHLKNECHT, MARTIN PRINOTH
research and casting MANOLET CASTILLO
main cast / experts MARIA ANTIGUA, MANOLET CASTILLO, VANESSA FAUVEL, GADIE SANTOS, MARY GRACE WESCH
project management PAM GORONCY, STÜCKLIESEL
lead developer LEONHARD ONKEN-MENKE
music POSE DIA
sound design DORIAN BEHNER
director of photography MARTIN PRINOTH
stage design MARTINA MAHLKNECHT
costume design GIANNA-SOPHIA WEISE
light design DENNIS NÄHR
sound engineer STEFFEN REIL
developer, camera operator LUCA KOWALINSKI
vfx, colouring JONAS LINK
stage construction TILL MARIA RICHTER
graphics BÜRO KLASS
production TÒ SU FILM OHG
acknowledgements to ANNA TEUWEN, AGNES NUBER, BIRGIT GLOMBITZA, GIACOMO BON, GEELKE GAYCKEN, GERRIT FROHNE-BRINCKMANN, JONAS PLÜMKE, LILLI THALGOTT, LUISE NAGEL, MARKUS WICHMANN, MARAIKE MARXSEN, MARKWARD SCHECK, PETRA MÜLLER, PUJA ABBASSI, SEEMANNSMISSION HAMBURG-ALTONA, SVENJA WEIL, SVEN MENNINGMANN, TONI MAHLKNECHT