Indie game Everything qualifies for Oscar longlist

Indie game, Everything, has won a prize at an Austrian film festival, which qualifiies it to be considered for an Oscar.

The game/interactive project by David O’Reilly won the Jury award for animation at the Vienna Shorts Festival for its trailer. The statement from the jury reads: "The ‘Jury Prize – Animation’ goes to a film, which beyond being entertaining has a strong poetic and philosophical theme. It serves a highly educational purpose, including an important political statement, that encourages to let our egos dissolve and gain a new perspective on the world. The award goes to "Everything", by David OReilly."

Whilst being considered a film by the panel becuase of the trailer, the game is the first video game to be on the Oscar longlist according to creator O’ Reilly who posted about the win on twitter.

https://twitter.com/davidoreilly/status/872534788183252992

Everything was released on PS4 in March 2017 and on PC a month later and published by Double Fine Productions. The game is a proceduarlly generated universe where the player can inhabit and control anything that is created, even down to the sub atomic level.

On the game’s website, the philosophy of the game is detailed:

"The philosophy of Everything is both serious and funny, silly and sincere, rational and absurd. It contradicts and criticizes itself. It doesn’t follow any existing school or canon and isn’t advocating for any particular way of thinking. Everything’s philosophy is designed to be experienced in all of its parts, and above all to be playful, entertaining and helpful. 

"Everything seeks to revive many old and even ancient ideas, liberate them from their texts and introduce them to new brains."