American virtual reality and generative AI pioneer Eliza McNitt will preside over the jury of Venice Film Festival’s Immersive section, which has unveiled its selection of 69 projects from 27 countries, 30 of which are in competition.
Highlights of the Venice Immersive competition include “Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman’s upcoming XR short “Asteroid,” which is “about a group of strangers who risk it all by taking an old rocket to mine a near-earth asteroid for a chance at unimaginable wealth,” according to its synopsis. “Asteroid” will launch on Google’s XR app later this year.
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McNitt, who won the grand prize in the VR category at Venice in 2018, is the director of the groundbreaking VR experience “Spheres.” Executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, the project featured Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith. Her latest project, “Ancestra” — which uses a mix of live-action performances and AI-based visuals — recently premiered at Tribeca and is produced by Aronofsky’s Primordial Soup outfit, which empowers filmmakers who work with AI-based creative tools.
Joining McNitt on the Venice Immersive jury panel will be Gwenael François, co-founder of Luxembourg’s Skill Lab and winner of the 2024 Venice Immersive special jury prize for “Oto’s Planet,” as well as French animator and installation artist Boris Labbé, whose VR debut “Ito Meikyū” scored the Venice Immersive grand prize last year.
Venice was the world’s first A-list festival to launch a VR competition, debuting the section in 2017, and its Venice Immersive remains the top global platform for immersive and XR works.
The selection will be showcased Aug. 27 to Sept. 6 on the Venice Immersive Island, located on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, a short boat ride from the festival’s main Lido hub.
See the full Venice Immersive competition lineup below.
“La magie opéra,” by Jonathan Astruc – France, 25’ – installation, virtual reality
“1968,” by Rose Bond – U.S., 9’ – installation, virtual reality
“La triste histoire de la petite souris qui voulait absolument devenir quelqu’un” (“The Sad Story of the Little Mouse Who Wanted to Become Somebody”), by Nicolas Bourniquel – France, Germany, Belgium, 30’ – virtual reality
“Creation of the Worlds,” by Kristina Buožytė, Vitalijus Žukas – Lithuania, 28’ – virtual reality
“Face Jumping,” by Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman – U.S. – 25’ – virtual reality
“Jeonyeok 8si wa Goyangi” (“8pm and the Cat”), by Minhyuk Che – South Korea, 14’ – virtual reality
“The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up,” by Singing Chen – Taipei, Germany, 50’ – installation, virtual reality
“Dark Rooms,” by Mads Damsbo, Anne Sofie Steen Sverdrup – Denmark, Germany, Taipei, 35’ – installation, virtual reality
“The Great Orator,” by Daniel Ernst, The Netherlands, 40’ – virtual reality
“Heartbeat – Son Cœur a Trouvé sa Cadence dans le Silence des Rencontres,” by Fanny Fortage – France, 10’ – immersive installation
“The Big Cube,” by Menghui Huang – Finland, Belgium, China, Portugal, 7’ – virtual reality
“Mirage,” by Naima Karim, Aleena Hanif – Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, U.K., 8’ – virtual reality, haptics
“Reflections of Little Red Dot,” by Chloé Lee – Germany, U.S., 40’ – installation, mixed reality
“L’ombre” (“The Shadow”), by Blanca Li, Edith Canat de Chizy – France, Taipei, 60’ – installation, mixed reality, live performance
“Asteroid,” by Doug Liman – U.S., Canada, 30’ – installation, virtual reality
“The Time Before,” by Leo Metcalf, Michael Golembewski – U.K., 15’ – virtual reality
“Danse Danse Danse – Matisse” (“Dance Dance Dance – Matisse”), by Agnès Molia, Gordon – France, 10’ – virtual reality
“Less Than 5gr of Saffron,” by Négar Motevalymeidanshah – France, 7’ – virtual reality
“Empathy Creatures,” by Mélodie Mousset – Switzerland, 10’ – installation, virtual reality
“La Fille qui Explose VR” (“The Exploding Girl VR”), by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel – France, 20’ – virtual reality
“Blur,” by Craig Quintero, Phoebe Greenberg – Canada, Taipei, 50’ – installation, virtual reality, live performance
“Black Cats & Chequered Flags,” by Elisabetta Rotolo, Siobhan McDonnell – Italy, 20’ – installation, mixed reality, virtual reality
“Eddie and I,” by Maya Shekel, Israel, Germany, France, 25’ – virtual reality
“Collective Body,” by Sarah Silverblatt‑Buser – France, U.S., 20’ – installation, virtual reality
“Alien Perspective,” by Jung Ah Suh, Cristina Rambaldi – USA, Italy, 15’ – installation, virtual reality
“The Great Escape,” by Joren Vandenbroucke – Belgium, Luxembourg, 20’ – virtual reality
“A Long Goodbye,” by Kate Voet, Victor Maes – Belgium, 35’ – installation, virtual reality
“If You See a Cat,” by Atsushi Wada – Japan, 37’ – virtual reality
“Mulan2125,” by Mo Huang – China, 56’ – virtual reality
“Sense of Nowhere,” by Hsin‑Hsuan Yeh – Taipei, Finland, Belgium, Portugal, France, 30’ – virtual reality
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