The 2024 Cannes Film Festival lineup is expanding thanks to the newly unveiled Immersive competition.
The inaugural offering includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, projection mapping, and holographic works. Actors such as Colin Farrell (“Gloomy Eyes”), Olivia Cooke (“Emperor”), Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown, and Patti Smith (“Spheres”) lend their respective voices to the projects created with cutting-edge technology.
The festival will host eight projects as part of the Immersive Competition, ushering in a new era of storytelling while “challenging convention, embracing new technologies, and above all celebrating new artists as well as old,” per the official press statement.
Outside of the competition, six non-competitive works will be featured at the exhibition exploring the evolution of the medium and drawing parallels between virtual reality, virtual production, cinema, and collective storytelling.
The Best Immersive Work Award will be presented by the President of the Jury at the Closing Ceremony on May 23. The Competition Immersive of the Cannes Film Festival is a new competition dedicated to immersive works, held from May 15 through 24 at the Cannes Cineum and the Université Côte d’Azur, Georges Méliès Campus.
See the full lineup and trailer below.
In competition
EN AMOUR
France
Claire Bardainne, Adrien Mondot, Laurent Bardainne
Casting Claire Bardainne (voiceover), November Ultra (singing voice)
Produced by Adrien M & Claire B, Ekleroshock records
EVOLVER
UK, France, United States
French Premiere
Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin, Robin McNicholas
Casting Cate Blanchett (voice)
Produced by Marshmallow Laser Feast, Atlas V, Pressman Film, Orange, Bia-Echo Foundation
HUMAN VIOLINS: PRELUDE (multi-user version)
Romania, France
World Premiere
Ioana Mischie
Casting Cabiria Morgenstern (English Voice)
Produced by Storyscapes, Da Prod, Studioset
MAYA: THE BIRTH OF A SUPERHERO
UK, France, United States
European Premiere
Poulomi Basu, CJ Clarke
Casting Indira Varma, Kathy Packianathan (French voices), Indira Varma, Charithra Chandran (English voices), Florrie Antoniou (voices)
Produced by Just Another Production Company, Floréal, Meta VR for Good, France Télévisions, Francetv Storylab, Meta
COLORED
France, Taiwan
Tania de Montaigne, Stéphane Foenkinos, Pierre-Alain Giraud
Casting Tania de Montaigne, Rebecca Naluyange, Keril Daniel Elombe, Véronique Bailey, Jona Kraft, Sergei Laev, Mbongiseni Kunene, Craig Thomas Crawford, John Harve Jackson, Gwei Lun-Mei (Mandarin voice), Susanna Dimitri (Italian voice).
Produced by Novaya, Flash Forward Entertainment, Centre Pompidou
TELOS I
Canada, Sweden, Denmark
World Premiere
Dorotea Saykaly, Emil Dam Seidel
Produced by Dorotea Saykaly, Emil Dam Seidel
Casting Dorotea Saykaly
THE ROAMING
France, Luxembourg, Canada
Mathieu Pradat
Casting Axel Beaumont, Pierre Tallaron, Tony Sanial, Mila Pousséo, Chloé Froget, Anne Klein, Marianne Bourg
Produced by La prairie productions, Wild Fang Films, Normal Studio, Small Creative
TRAVERSING THE MIST
Taiwan
Tung-Yen Chou
Casting Jing-Yan Lin
Produced by Very Theatre
Non-competitive works
BATTLESCAR
France, United States
Martin Allais, Nico Casavecchia
Casting Dawson (English voice), Jehnny Beth (French voice), Lo Rivera (German voice)
Produced by Atlas V, Albyon, 1STAveMachine, ARTE France, Oculus, Ryot
EMPEROR
France, Germany
Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen
Casting Olivia Cooke (English voice), Vimala Pons (French voice)
Produced by Atlas V, Reynard Films, France Télévisions
GLOOMY EYES
Argentina, France, United States
Fernando Maldonado, Jorge Tereso
Casting Tahar Rahim (French voice), Colin Farrell (English voice), Max Riemelt (German voice), Jorge Drexler (Spanish voice), Jam Hsiao (Mandarin voice) Produced by Atlas V, 3dar, ARTE France, HTC, Ryot
MISSING PICTURES: NAOMI KAWASE
France, UK, Taiwan, Luxembourg, South Korea
Clément Deneux
Casting Naomi Kawase
Produced by Atlas V, ARTE France, BBC, PTS, Serendipity Films, Wild Fang Films, Giioii
NOTES ON BLINDNESS
France, UK
Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton, James Spinney
Casting John Hull (English version), Lambert Wilson (French version)
Produced by Ex Nihilo, ARTE France, Archer’s Mark, Novelab
SPHERES
United States, France
Eliza McNitt
Casting Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown, Patti Smith
Produced by Protozoa Pictures, City Lights, Crime of Curiosity, Atlas V