Address Unknown: Fukushima Now Explores The Nuclear Disaster’s Impact Using VR

Address Unknown: Fukushima Now is a new VR documentary that examines the nuclear disaster’s long-term impact.

Address Unknown: Fukushima Now examines the meaning of home and your birthplace through the lens of a tragic incident. Exploring the impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, this documentary tells the stories of the affected survivors by sharing their memories, detailing the community’s grief as they cannot return to their former homes.

Directed by Arif Khan, Address Unknown: Fukushima Now achieves this using volumetric capture and photogrammetry. Lasting 25 minutes, we jumped into this experience during its premiere at Venice Immersive 2024. It’s an empathetic approach that highlights some crucial stories while recreating these environments well, though the documentary is let down by some pacing issues.

For more details, here’s the official synopsis:

The documentary transports viewers into an experience that explores the disaster and its lasting impact on communities and the environment. It reveals how a community endures in the aftermath of trauma and recalls memories of homes they can no longer return to. Through local voices, the experience also examines the meaning of home and how it may be redefined in the face of disaster.

It’s unknown if Address Unknown: Fukushima Now will receive a home release, but we’ll update this article if we learn more.