The 2023 Venice Immersive program has been unveiled.
The annual programming features 44 projects from 25 countries, with Singing Chen serving as jury president. The selection of projects for the XR – Extended Reality section will take place during the 80th Venice International Film Festival from August 30 to September 9. The official program is hosted on the Venice Immersive Island (island of Lazzaretto Vecchio), a short distance from the Lido di Venezia.
Venice Immersive is entirely devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression: 360° videos and XR works of any length, including installations and virtual worlds. Twenty-eight projects are debuting in Competition, with 10 projects Out of Competition which have already been released or premiered elsewhere internationally in the past year since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival.
The Venice Immersive Worldon VRChat will present a virtual presentation, with the Worlds Gallery section showcasing a selection of 24 virtual worlds, presented in guided World Hops Tours for an immersive guided tour for audiences.
The jury members include president Singing Chen whose latest VR Experience “The Man Who Couldn’t Leave” won the 2022 Venice Immersive Best Experience; 3DAR CEO and co-founder German Heller (“Paper Birds,” “Gloomy Eyes”); and Pedro Harres (“Castillo y el Armado”). The jury will award the following prizes: the Venice Immersive Grand Prize, the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize, and the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize.
In addition to the VR experiences in and out of competition, the Venice Immersive program hosts six projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR 1, produced thanks to a grant, plus five projects developed in the international workshop of the previous editions.
The Venice International Film Festival virtual reality programming was founded in 2016, with the first official competition for works in VR launched in 2017. By 2022, the program was renamed Venice Immersive.
See the full 2023 Venice Immersive lineup below.
VENICE IMMERSIVE In Competition
EMPEREUR (EMPEROR)
by MARION BURGER, ILAN COHEN France, Germany / 35’
SONGS FOR A PASSERBY by CELINE DAEMEN Netherlands / 25’
TULPAMANCER
by MARC DA COSTA, MATTHEW NIEDERHAUSER USA / 20’
REMEMBER THIS PLACE: 31°20’46’’N 34°46’46’’E by PATRICIA ECHEVERRIA LIRAS
Palestine, Qatar, Spain / 25’
LETTERS FROM DRANCY by DARREN EMERSON USA, UK / 22’
THE IMAGINARY FRIEND
by STEYE HALLEMA Netherlands, Belgium, France / 26’
WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE GRAND GETAWAY
by FINBAR HAWKINS, BRAM TTWHEAM, LAWRENCE BENETT France, UK / 60’
SEN
by KEISUKE ITOH Japan / 15’
MY NAME IS O90 by SIYEON KIM South Korea / 14’
COMFORTLESS
by GINA KIM
South Korea, USA / 15’
BODY OF MINE
by CAMERON KOSTOPOULOS USA / 20’
ONEROOM-BABEL by SANGHEE LEE South Korea / 15’
CHEN XIANG VR
by LIU YUEJUN, WU NANNI, SHI TAO, XU JINGQIU China / 45’
FLOW
by ADRIAAN LOKMAN Netherlands, France / 15’
HOME
by TEMSUYANGER LONGKUMER UK / 32’
PEUPLER (POPULATE)
by MAYA MOUAWAD, CYRIL LAURIER France, Lebanon / 10’
FLOATING WITH SPIRITS
by JUANITA ONZAGA
Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands / 31’
SYUHASUU (FREQUENCY) by ELLIE OMIYA
Japan / 25’
PEPITOS: THE BEAK SAGA
by RUXANDRA GABRIELA POPESCU UK, USA / 13’
JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER: THE SEVEN RAVENS by PAUL RAPHAËL, FÉLIX LAJEUNESSE
Canada, USA / 20’
PERENNIALS
by ZOE ROELLIN USA / 17’
FINALMENTE EU (FINALLY ME) by MARCIO SAL
Brazil / 14’
GARGOYLE DOYLE
by ETHAN SHAFTEL
USA, Argentina, Austria / 38’
AUFWIND (UPWIND) by FLORIAN SIEBERT Germany / 28’
HORSE CANYON by NPROWLER Canada / 60’
SHADOWTIME
by SISTER SYLVESTER, DENIZ TORTUM Netherlands, USA, Turkey / 20’
COMPLEX 7 by FINS USA / 30’
SPOTS OF LIGHT
by ADAM WEINGROD Israel, Canada / 14’
Best of Immersive – Out of Competition
(international selection of the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival)
ANOTHER FISHERMAN’S TALE
by ALEXIS MOROZ, BALTHAZAR AUXIETRE France / 240’
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S CONQUEST OF THE SKIES by LEWIS BALL
UK, USA / 22’
THE FIRST INGREDIENT: TALES FROM SODA ISLAND – CH. 7 by SIMONE FOUGNIER
USA / 17’
SPACE EXPLORERS: BLUE MARBLE – ORBIT 1 by FÉLIX LAJEUNESSE, PAUL RAPHAËL Canada / 24’
THE UTILITY ROOM by LIONEL MARSDEN UK / 80’
CONSENSUS GENTIUM by KAREN PALMER UK, USA / 25’
FORAGER
by WINSLOW PORTER, ELIE ZANANIRI USA / 8’
OVER THE RAINBOW by CRAIG QUINTERO Taipei / 11’
PIXEL RIPPED 1978 by ANA RIBEIRO USA / 20’
GAUDI, L’ATELIER DU DIVIN
by STÉPHANE LANDOWSKI, GAËL CABOUAT France, Japan / 17’
Biennale College Cinema – VR – Out of Competition
QUEER UTOPIA: ACT I CRUISING
by LUI AVALLOS producer: RODRIGO MOREIRA
Portugal, Brazil / 25’
developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR, 6th edition (2021/2022)
TALES OF THE MARCH
by STEFANO CASERTANO, producers: STEFANO CASERTANO, TIM DEUSSEN Germany, Italy / 12’
developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR, 5th edition (2020/2021)
FIRST DAY
by VALERIY KORSHUNOV, producer: SVITLANA KORSHUNOVA
Ukraine / 15’
produced with the grant from Biennale College Cinema VR, 7th edition (2022/2023)
HUMAN VIOLINS – PRELUDE
by IOANA MISCHIE, producers: IOANA MISCHIE, SORIN BAICAN, JEREMY SAHEL & co Romania, France / 19’
developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR, 5th edition (2021/2022)
ORIGEN
by EMILIA SÁNCHEZ CHIQUETTI, producer: EMILIA SÁNCHEZ CHIQUETTI Brazil / 25’
developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR, 5th edition (2020/2021)
A VOCAL LANDSCAPE
by OMID ZAREI, ANNE JEPPESEN, producers: OMID ZAREI, ANNE JEPPESEN Denmark, USA / 14’
developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR, 4th edition (2019/2020)
Worlds Gallery
A TRIP IN THE FOREST by Thrіll
BEYOND A BIT – 想像のちょっと先へ by EstyOctober
BREAK SET by PK
CLUB DEVIATE by TOTC
CUBES (EXPERIMENTAL) by phi16
CYBERLOVE OKINAWA ˸˸˸ 沖縄 by Artsy Glitch
DRAGON_TOWN by COMA.
EPILOGUE. CHAPTER 1. by DrMorro
EPILOGUE. CHAPTER 2. by DrMorro
EXHIBITION ⁄ LITTLE TRAITORS by haruki_haru
FATBOY SLIM – EAT, SLEEP, VR, REPEAT by Fatboy Slim, ENGAGE XR and Anglo Management
IY MMD WORLD by Iris Alias
LUMINESCENT LEDGE by Thorinair
PASS OF TIME by Karl Kroenen
REALITY IS WRONG by sɪᴍᴘʟᴇ – ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ
STORM DRAIN by @CattusEx
TARRIED PRECIPICE by Karl Koronan
TERRA COTTA VALLEY by Octuplex
THAD MANDELBOX by Thad Gyther
THAD RECURSIVE GARDEN by Thad Gyther
THAD RECURSIVE ROOM by Thad Gyther
THE SPARK OF THE WORLD by TSMRE
VEINPRM0118 by VEIN_A
ZEP’S PARTICLE HELL by Zepwlert
14 IMMERSIVE STORY PROJECTS
14 Immersive Story Projects (9 from Europe and 5 from the rest of the world), including fiction, documentaries and animation films and other interactive installation experiences. All the projects have 30% of their budget guaranteed.
11 PROJECTS AT BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA VR
11 projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema VR workshop, seventh edition, in various phases of development, from pre-production to post production.
