Final Presentation & Showcase of the MA Digital Narratives

How are digital creatives using technology to transform storytelling? The Final Presentation & Showcase of the MA Digital Narratives at the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln offers insights into two years of artistic and research-based exploration at the intersection of narrative, technology, and innovation.

The students of  the fifth cohort of the MA Digital Narratives will celebrate their graduation with a final showcase of their work - a diverse range of projects, including VR experiences, games, a digital performance, an interactive film, and a web comic. Each project will be exhibited following the presentations, offering visitors the opportunity to experience the works first-hand. 

You want to see the results of two years of experimentation, exploration, and production of digital narrative projects? Please register here.

MA Digital Narratives – Final Presentation

16 July 2026 | from 3:00 p.m. (CEST)
ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln
Schanzenstrasse 28 | 51063 Cologne

Programme

3:00 p.m. – Welcome and Keynotes (Cinema)

Keynote speeches:
Naima Karim – “Why VR? Storytelling, Technology, and my Creative Process”
Prof. Toby Heys – “The Seduction of Multisensory Storytelling"

Naima Karim - Visual artist, born and raised in Bangladesh, living in the Netherlands. Karims interactive VR experience »Mirage«, based on depression and anxiety among teenagers, was nominated and premiered at the 82nd Venice Biennale.

Prof. Toby Heys – Professor of Digital Media in the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Much of Heys’ recent funded work focuses on the sonic, haptic and interactive elements of the immersive experience, an area he has been exploring and advancing for over 30 years through industry-based projects, gallery exhibitions and festivals.
 
4:00 p.m. – Project Presentations (Cinema)

• Everybody Has a Time Machine, so Does Lily – Deniz Akyol
  A web-based interactive graphic novel exploring what it means to carry past selves within the body.
• Through Diya’s Eyes – Kritika Singh Bisen
  A narrative VR experience exploring the emotional landscape of ADHD through poetic expression and experiential design.
• Serap – Zeyd Candan
  A first-person 3D narrative game about belonging and the fragility of acceptance.
• Burnout – Plamena Dimitrova
  A first-person art game guiding players through the different phases of burnout.
• Neural Nexus – Moheman Iqbal
  A 2.5D platform game in which digital memory retention becomes the key to progression.
• Three Legged Chair – Thanussayan Karunakaran
  An interactive neuro-cinema installation examining reconciliation, collective memory, and systemic erasure in Sri Lanka.
• In Loving Memory: Aram Bagh – Amna Tariq
  A VR narrative experience about grief, memory, and returning home, set in 1990s Karachi.
• Ich war den ganzen Sommer über in Köln – Haydar Tastan
  A digital performance exploring belonging and memory.
• Why Not Play Until the End – Dojiang Wang
  A browser-based journaling game inviting terminal patients to become co-authors of their own narrative legacy.

From 5:00 p.m. – Showcase (Cinema, Studio Spaces and Foyer)