Frankfurt am Main | 14 – 22 October 2023
"Hineini" is an interactive experience, exploring the intersectional space between religious culture and sexual identity. The central character, Levi, navigates a hostile social environment, discovering who will support him. Set during Channukah, as each day another candle is lit, so also his personal exploration of his emotions becomes more clear. He rebels against his traditionally practicing parents, seeks the language to describe his experience and searches for a place where he belongs. The game explores the opposing desires of belonging and queerness, the pressure to linguistically and performatively conform even in queer contexts and the inevitibility of questioning, fearing and loving. The player is brought along with Levi on this journey, helping him to make decisions that affect the social circumstances of his exploration. The game takes around one hour to play casually from start to finish, spanning eight in-game days of exploration, talking and listening. In "Hineini" geht es um Levi, einen jüdischen Jungen, der entdeckt, dass er schwul ist, und das Spannungsfeld zwischen seiner Religionskultur und seiner Sexualität erforscht. Der Spieler navigiert mit ihm durch das Spiel und trifft Entscheidungen, die seine persönlichen Beziehungen beeinflussen.

Stills

Film Info

Director

  • Ariel Jacob

    I am a Judeoqueer artist from France and England currently pursuing an MA in video game art after a BA in Fine art at Central Saint Martins UAL, London.

    I focus on Jewish and Queer identity within my work by creating props, puppets and dolls and more recently becoming the art director for Hineini.

  • Joshua Gundlach

    Joshua Gundlach is a story teller. A 2021 graduate from Kunsthochschule Kassel, he centers his art around Judaism, queerness and disability. He primarily works with making games, illustrations and textile art.

B3 Moving Image Forum

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Hineini by Ariel Jacob, Joshua Gundlach
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