“Contrôleurs” is a virtual reality game designed as a surreal depiction of racial profiling. The title is a play on the double meaning of the word “contrôleurs,” referring both to a game controller in English, and to the French word for an officer charged with conducting checks. In the introduction, the player finds themselves in a lawyer’s office, and they are presented with three cases of racially motivated police misconduct. Each case unfolds like a game level wherin the player is placed in the shoes of the character enduring the prejudice and resulting police brutality. Throughout these levels, the player must complete tasks to earn points; however, regardless of the score achieved, the outcome remains the same: arrest and violence at the hands of law enforcement. Despite the differences between characters, choices made, and situations encountered, “Contrôleurs” consistently confronts the player with police violence. This inescapable scenario illustrates the absurdity of abuses committed by law enforcement—particularly against the Black community—and demonstrates that it is impossible to become immune to such situations, no matter how “perfect” one’s behavior may be.

Fahad Ben Aboubacar is an alum of Concordia’s Film Animation Program, as well as a professional animator, digital compositor, and video technician based in Montreal, Canada. The city being a hotspot for entertainment and arts, he was given the opportunity to earn credits on locally produced television shows, and films, in the years after graduation. However, The Black Community Resource Center has facilitated this aspiring creative’s first foray in the realm of game-design, thanks to their “Through Their Eyes” Virtual Reality project. He aims to make use of this opportunity to provide representation and perspective that continues to lack not only in the gaming space, but also in the mainstream art scene. Being a member of Montreal’s culturally rich afro-descended communities, he wishes to use technology and art to shed light on their stories in brand new ways.

Fahad Ben Aboubacar est diplômé du programme d’animation cinématographique de l’Université Concordia animateur, compositeur numérique et technicien vidéo à Montréal. Cette dernière étant un haut lieu des arts et du divertissement, il a eu l’occasion après sa graduation de de participer à la réalisation d’émissions de télé locales et de long-métrages. Toutefois, avec l’aide du Black Community Resource Center, ce jeune créatif fait ses premiers pas dans l’univers de la conception de jeux vidéo grâce au projet de réalité virtuelle «Through Their Eyes». Il entend profiter de cette opportunité pour offrir une représentation et un point de vue qui font encore défaut, tant dans le secteur du jeu vidéo que sur la scène artistique grand public. Membre des communautés montréalaises afro-descendantes à la richesse culturelle foisonnante, il souhaite mettre la technologie et l’art au service de la mise en lumière de leurs histoires, sous un angle