meeting a monster

Meeting a Monster examines the memories and motivations of former white supremacist Angela King. Through audio recordings, re-enactments, and present-day footage, the film invites the viewer to experience both the decisions that lured Angela into the white power movement as well as the encounters that led her out. While the monsters Angela encounters and imagines define much of her path towards a mindset of bias and hate, she is unable to discover the path out until she encounters the ultimate monster — herself.

The film was created as part of the Oculus VR for Good program and premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. The film has also been shown at Cannes NEXT, Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, and Oculus Connect. It most recently won Best Immersive Storytelling at the North Bend Film Festival. The film has also been used as a resource for civic education in Berlin, been published as a tool for Hacking Racial Bias for Oculus Developers and will be used by city of Los Angeles, the State of California, and DHS to train officers to red flags for white supremacy groups. In addition, the organization Life After Hate will utilize the film to help current white supremacists disengage from hate groups.

Directed by Gabriela Arp

Director of Photography, Matthew Addington

Scenic Design, Elizabeth Jarrett