The VR experience combines animation, narrative and documentary and features the voices of Sophie Okonedo and Tobias Menzies.
British filmmaker Asif Kapadia, Oscar winner for “Amy,” was due to adapt Nick Abadzis’ 2007 graphic novel “Laika” as an animated film before it finally saw fruition as a VR experience. Kapadia came across the novel, based on the true story of a Moscow stray mongrel who was sent into orbit by Russia on Sputnik 2 in 1957, more than five years ago. He read it to his children as a bedtime story and decided to adapt it as an animated film that they could watch. He optioned the novel but as he grew busy with other projects, the option lapsed. In 2019, Kapadia was approached with the idea for a VR short to be shown at the BFI London Film Festival by event organizers along with the StoryFutures Academy, the U.K.’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling, run by the National Film and Television School, and Royal Holloway, University of London. Kapadia trawled his bookshelves for ideas and came across “Laika” again.
