This paper examines how body movement, and particularly the deliberate suspension of movement, can function as a narrative device in Cinematic Virtual Reality (CVR). Through the case study of LIFTA, A Life Not Forgotten, I explore how embodied interactivity can be integrated into linear immersive storytelling to retell historical narratives with emotional and ethical depth.

 

LIFTA, A Life Not Forgotten, reconstructs the final 24 hours of Lifta, one of the last structurally intact depopulated Palestinian villages of 1948. Combining high-resolution photogrammetry of the present-day ruins with historically grounded 3D reconstruction, spatial audio, and testimonial storytelling, the project allows participants to move through the site as it exists today. However, the re-creation of the village’spast is revealed only when the participant stands still. When they move, the reconstructed past collapses back into ruins.

 

This motion-triggered mechanic reframes the body as both interface and metaphor. Stillness becomes an act of witnessing and remembrance, while movement signifies rupture and erasure. Rather than privileging constant agency, the project uses constrainedinteractivity to sustain narrative linearity while deepening immersion through proprioceptive awareness. Editing is replaced by embodied transitions; spatial dissolves are activated by the participant’s physical state.

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CVR films: LIFTA, A Life Not Forgotten (2026)

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Sohail Dahdal is an award-winning filmmaker, immersive media scholar, and creative practitioner based at the American University of Sharjah. His work explores cinematic virtual reality, embodied storytelling, and immersive heritage preservation. He is the creator of LIFTA, A Life Not Forgotten, an XR narrative reconstructing the final hours of a depopulated Palestinian village through motion-triggeredinteractivity and photogrammetry. Dahdal’s research examines how VR can function as a medium for memory transmission, documentary practice, and cultural preservation. He collaborates internationally on immersive media projects and teaches film, XR storytelling, and emerging media practices.