The New Yorker’s “Reeducated,” an immersive V.R. documentary, directed by Sam Wolson, with reporting by Ben Mauk and illustrations by Matt Huynh and animation by Nicholas Rubin and Dirt Empire, that takes viewers inside the secret world of a “reëducation” camp in Xinjiang, China. In the spring of 2017, authorities in Xinjiang began detaining thousands of Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other predominantly Muslim minorities in secret extrajudicial detention camps. By 2018, as many as a million people were held in a vast network of “reëducation centers.” Guided by the eyewitness accounts of three men—Erbaqyt Otarbai, Orynbek Koksebek, and Amanzhan Seituly, all ethnically Kazakh—who were imprisoned at a facility in Tacheng in 2017, the film illuminates what is likely the largest mass internment of ethnic and religious minorities since the Second World War.
“Reeducated” premièred at SXSW, in the Virtual Cinema category, and received the film festival’s Special Jury Recognition for Immersive Journalism. It has gone on to win main prizes from New Images, VRHAM and has been shown at many other festivals including the 78th Venice Film Festival VR Expanded section.
Since then it has gone on to screen at over 30 festivals worldwide and garner both an Emmy in 2002 in the Outstanding Interactive Media section as well as winning a 2023 Peabody Award for Immersive and Interactive.
Drawn from hours of firsthand testimony, survivor sketches, and satellite photos, the V.R. film uses Huynh’s hand-drawn pen-and-brush illustrations, brought to life by the animator Nicholas Rubin, and spatial audio, composed by Jon Bernson, to reconstruct the men’s experiences in a stereoscopic, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree space. Viewers can watch the film on desktop on newyorker.com or on mobile via YouTube. Use a cardboard viewer, or a headset such as an Oculus, for the full V.R. experience. See detailed viewing instructions here.
“Reeducated” was supported by the Pulitzer Center, the Eyebeam Center for the Future of Journalism, and the Online News Association, and accompanies the interactive New Yorker feature “Inside Xinjiang’s Prison State.”
Dirt Empire supervised all of the animation production of the project with a team of visual effects artists to bring the project into stereoscopic virtual reality over the course of 1 year. Their goal in executing the highly technical animation was to craft a hand-painted world in keeping with Matt Huynh’s visual style, Sam Wolson’s directorial vision and Ben Mauk’s deep reporting — all in service to the depth of the story while leveraging the power of VR storytelling.
PRIZES
The New Yorker Wins It’s First Peabody Award For Reeducated
The New Yorker Wins Its First Emmy, for “Reeducated”
“Special Jury Prize for Immersive Journalism” at SXSW 2021 in the Virtual Cinema Category.
“VRHAMMY” at VRHAM! VR festival in Hamburg
“Special Jury Prize VR” VR festival NewImages in Paris
Film credits
Featuring
Erbaqyt Otarbai
Orynbek Koksebek
Amanzhan Seituly
Project Developed by
Ben Mauk
Sam Wolson
Director
Sam Wolson
Artist
Matt Huynh
Research and Reporting
Ben Mauk
Executive Producers
Soo-Jeong Kang
Monica Racic
Lead Animator and Technical Supervisor
Nicholas Rubin
Senior Editor
Brian Redondo
Producers
Ben Mauk
Sam Wolson
Nicholas Rubin
Matt Huynh
Sound Designer/Composer
Jon Bernson
Animation Studio
Dirt Empire
Press Links
Painting Xinjiang’s Brutal Camps in 3D – Foreign Policy – Christina Lu – March 16, 2021
A Deeper Look into the Latest ECFJ-Supported Piece with the New Yorker – Eyebeam – Marisa Mazria Katz – March 16th, 2021
Xinjiang ‘Re-Education’ Camps Brought to Life in New Yorker VR Doc at SXSW – Variety – Rebecca Davis – March 23rd 2021
Decoding XR: REEDUCATED, Jon Bernson, Matt Huynh & Nicholas Rubin XR Must – Agnes Pietrobon – April 26th 2021
Sam Wolson – Reeducated – XR Must – Agnes Pietrobon – March 18th, 2021
Documentary on Internment in Xinjiang Wins Award at SXSW Pulitzer Center – March 22nd, 2021
REEDUCATED – Making of The Fugitive World – Ben Mauk – May 21 2021
NewImages Festival Awards – Variety – Ben Croll – Jun 12th, 2021
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