Nadia Bokareva is excited about her work on Liza Alert’s “The Fullness of Life.” Most of us can only say “thank you” to the incredible people who save lives on a daily basis but Nadia and her collaborators have discovered a way to use their skill to create an actual quantifiable contribution to these heroes. The talented forces behind the “The Fullness of Life” have created an interactive film which both pays tribute to volunteers who risk their own safety to aid others and also places audiences in their footsteps via a panoramic 360-degree format. An editor whose resume boasts productions which have received accolades including Cannes Lions nominations and Effie Awards, Ms. Bokareva is a much acclaimed editor who is able to communicate drama with her extraordinarily empathetic style. These traits are immediately obvious upon viewing “The Fullness of Life” with its adrenaline infused heart pounding pace. “The Fullness of Life” is equally full of drama and anxiety while reaffirming that the difference we can make in the world is nearly unchartable. Crafting these moments with precision and artistry is Nadia Bokareva, never seen but always leaving an impression through her work.
You can never truly appreciate what someone has undertaken or achieved until you’ve walked alongside them at their most challenging moments. The Filmmakers of the documentary film about Liza Alert wanted to convey what the courageous and selfless members of this non-profit volunteer organization feel and experience in their efforts. Shooting in panoramic video with a 360-degree format was a bold and challenging way to bring audiences into this world. VR is still at a time in which it’s cinematic language has not been clearly defined, meaning that the approach for these filmmakers involved an inordinate amount of creativity and trust. For editor Nadia Bokareva, it meant expanding the portion of her brain which has always focuses on a flat image and widening that approach to a vastly expanded perspective. Presenting the audience with an all-enveloping view makes focusing their attention on one single facet far more difficult. To introduce the three main characters early in the film, Nadia presented a mock up similar to Instagram and made “Stories” of each character. One of these stories was paused at a certain moment, moved towards spherical perception and switched to the story of the next character. Viewers wearing virtual reality glasses already began to feel the volume, but at the same time remained at a distance, as it happens in cinema or in front of a smartphone screen. And after the last character was announced, the stories were removed from the pause and began to “open” like petals, completely filling the space and sphere around the viewer, launching him into the world of the film. Nadia placed interactive captions and guides throughout the film to help bring viewers back into the story if they found themselves too distracted in the VR realm.
This documentary film is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Due to the format with which it was created, “The Fullness of Life” is not a film you can easily gain access to. Having premiered at the Vkratze Fest and then presented at the American-Russian Independent Documentary Film Festival in New York, this documentary is accessible at the Videodrom in Moscow. Most of the world won’t be able to see this film until the VR 360 format becomes more commonplace but being on the forefront of this modern filmmaking process means that it will push the medium forward. That’s an agreeable concept to editor Nadia Bokareva but it doesn’t communicate the real reason she took on the editing responsibilities for “The Fullness of Life.” She relates, “I realized that this is a socially significant work that would contribute to the development of the VR industry and give people a different look at the Liza Alert search and rescue team. I think this film is a great opportunity for everyone to see volunteers work without leaving home. To find out what difficulties they face and how valuable every minute is when it comes to saving a life. This story is not only about the search for a missing person, it is about the search for the human inside. About finding yourself. I’m happy and proud that I took part in this project and it seems that it helped people.”