A story of friendship and selflessness
Bridging the worlds between VRChat and reality, this unique documentary follows a friendship founded in VR that blossoms into an act of stunning generosity.
Hiyu, a Stockholm-based VR creator is battling imminent kidney failure. His online friend from New York, Photographotter, hears the news and volunteers to donate his kidney, thus saving Hiyu’s life.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of the VR furry community, The Reality of Hope is a short film, now officially selected by the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It explores kindness, resilience, sacrifice, and how blending the virtual and real worlds can create a love that conquers continents.
Hiyu
Hiyu is a VR world builder and composer at Furality, with previous game development credits in The Stanley Parable, A Way Out & It Takes Two. Not only is he renowned for his world building inside VRChat, but also for the expressive avatars he creates shown in both Photographotter's and his personal avatar. Hiyu was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 28, yet faced the significant health challenge with resilience supported by his family and online VR community.
Photographotter
Photographotter is loyal, deeply empathetic and driven to help others, as shown in his selfless decision to donate his kidney to Hiyu. He’s well known in the VRChat community as a talented VR film maker, photographer, renowed champion of the VR community. Despite the gravity of being a live donor to Hiyu, he is lighthearted and warmly optimistic, using humor to navigate through life’s challenges.
Directed by Joe Hunting
Joe Hunting is a filmmaker born in the UK. He is most known for the feature film WE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY (2022), which notably premiered at Sundance Film Festival. His short films including award winning A WIDER SCREEN (2019) and episodic series VIRTUALLY SPEAKING (2020) have played at festivals worldwide. His innovations with filmmaking inside VR has been written about in Filmmaker Magazine, TIME and WIRED. He is the founder of virtual production studio Painted Clouds.
Co-produced by Max Willson
Max Willson is also a British filmmaker specialising in automotive and aviation content with a deep interest in VR. Max curated the story idea, co-produced and helped shoot the film. He's worked with BBC Top Gear, Channel 5 and ITV along with corporate customers including Bentley, Hertz, Florida Tourist Board and the Fully Charged Show.
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