Upcoming Sundance short film features life-saving relationship between two VRChat furries

On December 16, 2024, an announcement for a new short film reveals an emotional tale featuring two furries who have made a lasting real-life connection starting from the world of VRChat. This new short film is called "The Reality of Hope", which follows the journey of 'PhotographOtter', and 'Hiyu'; portraying a story of two close friends in VRChat, living in separate countries, and a life-saving decision in live organ donation.

Showtime, Cast, and Information

Hiyu is a virtual reality creator, who has worked on worlds, avatars, and virtual furry conventions in VRChat, such as Furality Online Xperience, which is an online event partnered with VRChat; and VirtualFurence - a digital incarnation of the annual Eurofurence venue in Germany. Hiyu was diagnosed with kidney failure, and was undergoing dialysis.

PhotographOtter is another creator in VRChat, who befriended Hiyu, and later found out about his condition. He made a choice to travel to Sweden to see if he could be a match for a kidney transplant.

The Reality of Hope is directed by Joe Hunting, who previously directed "We Met in Virtual Reality", a 2022 feature-length social documentary about tangible social connections within VRChat. We Met in Virtual Reality premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2022, which later released on HBO Max. Like its predecessor, The Reality of Hope will be featured at Sundance Film Festival in 2025.

Sundance Film Festival 2025 will be taking place between January 23 to February 2. The Reality of Hope will be showcased under the "Short Films Program", among with seven other films from other producers.