Sorella’s Story
Holocaust awareness among generations, through technology and empathy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6442044 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ana Borges Jelinic (0000-0002-2421-4367, Griffith University, corresponding author), Peter Hegedüs (0000-0003-4592-6504, Griffith University), Elena Marchetti (0000-0002-2557-1200, Griffith University), Bobbi-Lea Dionysius (Griffith University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 910-930 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Media Culture & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-4437 • E-ISSN: 1460-3675 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01634437251314335 |
| OpenAlex | W4406950635 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 29 |
In 2022, Sorella’s Story was launched at the Venice International Film Festival using 360 immersive technologies with the intention to enable empathic responses from viewers as they witnessed the story of a group of Latvian women and a 10-year-old child, Sorella, in their last moments before being killed by Nazi troops and their Latvian collaborators during World War II. This article presents findings of an empathy survey that was completed by viewers of the film at the Venice International Film Festival, the Brisbane International Film Festival and during orientation week at Australia’s largest film schools: the Griffith Film School. The survey was administered to determine whether using 360 immersive storytelling for a film about the Holocaust triggered empathic responses, and if there were different empathic responses in viewers of different ages. Findings indicate that all age groups responded empathically to the experience confirming 360 immersive technologies’ empathy eliciting capacities. Older people scored significantly higher than younger people on empathic responses, indicating the need for more research on generational differences
Empathy · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · The Holocaust · Digital Games and Media · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Psychology · Social Psychology
Changes in Dispositional Empathy in American College Students Over Time
The QCAE
Exposure to social suffering in virtual reality boosts compassion and facial synchrony
Using 360° Video to Enable Affective Learning in Nursing Education
The Social Inheritance of the Holocaust
‘The Holocaust is a place where … ’
Surviving Images
Forum
The labour of place
Understanding what young people know
Teaching about the Holocaust in English schools
Virtual reality-based conflict resolution
Effects of immersive storytelling on affective, cognitive, and associative empathy
Simulation games, popular factual media and civic engagement
Media witnessing
Creating the 'virtual' witness
Photography Found and Lost
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |