An experienced attorney and educator based in Chicago, John Heintz previously served as chief legal officer and superintendent of operations for Niles Township High School District 219. He currently serves as senior legal consultant at Lydian, Inc., a Chicago firm he co-founded in 2013. Outside of work, John Heintz enjoys reading, cycling, and watching films, especially those from Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu.

1. John Heintz, Chicago
Alejandro González Iñárritu Debuts
Virtual Reality Film Project

2. Introduction
 An experienced attorney and educator based in
Chicago, John Heintz previously served as chief legal
officer and superintendent of operations for Niles
Township High School District 219. He currently
serves as senior legal consultant at Lydian, Inc., a
Chicago firm he co-founded in 2013. Outside of work,
John Heintz enjoys reading, cycling, and watching
films, especially those from Oscar-winning director
Alejandro González Iñárritu.
During the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival, which
took place May 17-28, 2017, Alejandro G. Iñárritu
debuted his new virtual reality (VR) project, Carne y
Arena, an immersive visual art installation that seeks
to capture the experience of Latin American migrants
along the U.S.-Mexico border.

3. Alejandro González Iñárritu
 Breaking the boundaries of traditional cinema, the six-
and-a-half-minute piece uses VR technology and 360-
degree sweeping shots to place viewers in the
Sonoran Desert amid a group of immigrants
attempting to cross the border with the help of
“coyote” smugglers.
Iñárritu, whose previous films include Birdman and
The Revenant, created the exhibit over a period of
four years with his regular cinematographer
Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. Carne y Arena, or Flesh
and Sand, was shown at a warehouse some 30
minutes outside of Cannes, and was the first virtual-
reality film to be an official selection at the festival.
The VR piece will now be on display at museums
around the world.