The selection is complete for the virtual reality works of the 78th Venice International Film Festival

The selection is complete for the Virtual Reality works of the 78th Venice International Film Festival (1 – 11 September 2021) of La Biennale di Venezia in the section titled Venice VR Expanded, which will be held on the following dates and venues:

• 1 – 11 September, on site (Sala Amici, Palazzo del Casinò, Lido di Venezia)
• 1 – 19 September, online and at Satellite Venues (14 venues, 10 countries)

The Venice VR Expanded, section of the 78th Venice International Film Festival, following the success of the 2020 edition, will again be held online, extending its duration from 1 – 19 September, 2021.

From 1 – 11 September, for the entire duration of the Venice Film Festival, the Venice VR Expanded Programme will be available on site for accredited festival guests, at the VR Gallery in the Palazzo del Casinò (Lido di Venezia), Sala Amici, upon reservation.

The Official Selection of Virtual Reality works in this edition of the Venice Film Festival may be viewed online thanks to our partner platforms, HTC’s Viveport and Facebook’s Oculus, using PCVR and Oculus Quest headsets.

The Venice VR virtual world, designed with the technical support of VRrOOm within VRChat, will be the Venice VR Expanded hub—a fantastical virtual version of Venice and of our usual in-real-life VR Island Lazzaretto Vecchio, available  to anyone with a VRChat account. Within our Venice VR virtual world, visitors can experience previews of the official selection and socialise with other visitors. Accredited guests will be invited to “Meet the Creator” sessions, opening and closing parties, and other performances and events. Within this virtual world, following the success of the 2020 virtual edition, Venice VR Expanded will feature a brand new section, the Venice VRChat Worlds Gallery, with a selection of 35 virtual worlds, celebrating the creativity of creators using VRChat as a platform to build their own fantasy worlds. Additionally, 5 special events, including live performances, will take place in 5 different VRChat virtual venues.

Venice VR Expanded will present 37 projects from 21 Countries and 35 VRChat worlds:

• 23 projects in Competition
• 1 Special Event – Out of Competition
• 12 projects Out of Competition – Best Of (selection of the finest VR work launched since the 2020 Edition)

• 1 project developed and financed during the fifth edition of the Biennale College Cinema – VR
• 35 selected worlds in VRChat in VRChat Worlds Gallery with 5 Special Events

The Venice International Film Festival was one of the first film festivals in the world to demonstrate interest in Virtual Reality. The development of a VR Theater in 2016 sparked enormous interest among the participants of the Venice Production Bridge. Starting in 2017, La Biennale di Venezia launched the first competition for works in Virtual Reality in an A-list festival, which was held for three editions, through 2019, in a venue on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio on the Lido, judged by an International Jury. The online accessibility of Venice VR Expanded, born in the 2020 edition, represents a new commitment and a new challenge to guarantee that the Venice International Film Festival will continue to offer the experience of the rapidly evolving art form that is Virtual Reality.

The accredited viewers of the Venice Film Festival will have access to all the titles of the virtual programme. Furthermore, a special VR Accreditation will be issued to interested visitors who are not accredited for the Festival.

The members of the International Jury of Venice VR Expanded are:

• Michelle Kranot, President

• Maria Grazia Mattei
• Jonathan Yeo

The Venice VR Expanded Jury will award the following prizes: Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work, Best VR Experience and Best VR Story.

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In Competition 

ENGELEN VAN AMSTERDAM (ANGELS IN AMSTERDAM) by ANNA ABRAHAMS, AVINASH CHANGA
Netherlands / 30’ 

END OF NIGHT by DAVID ADLER
Denmark, France / 49’ 

LA PLAGE DE SABLE ÉTOILÉ (THE STARRY SAND BEACH) by NINA BARBIER, HSIN-CHIEN HUANG 
France / 15’ 

CAVES by ISABEL GARCIA CARLOS
Switzerland / 19’ 

BEDLAM by MAT COLLISHAW
France, UK, Taiwan / 45’ 

GENESIS by JOERG COURTIAL
Germany / 13’ 

SPIRIT OF PLACE by DALE DEACON
South Africa, Denmark / 30’ 

TEARLESS by KIM GINA
South Korea, USA / 12’ 

LUN HUI (SAMSARA) COMPLETE PART 1 AND 2 VERSION by HSIN-CHIEN HUANG
Taiwan / 21’ 

CLAP by KEISUKE ITOH
Japan / 13’ 

LE BAL DE PARIS DE BLANCA LI by BLANCA LI
France, Germany, Luxembourg / 35’ 

BLISS IN THE EAR OF A STORM by ADAM LIEBER, HAL SORTA
UK, South Africa, USA/ 20’ 

IL DUBBIO – EPISODE 2 by MATTEO LONARDI, JAVIER LAJARA, JAVIER MARTINEZ
Spain, Italy / 7’ 

ANANDALA by KEVIN MACK
USA / 15’ 

GOLIATH: PLAYING WITH REALITY by BARRY GENE MURPHY, MAY ABDALLA
UK, France / 25’ 

MONTEGELATO by DAVIDE RAPP
Italy / 28’ 

THE SEVERANCE THEORY: WELCOME TO RESPITE by LYNDSIE SCOGGIN
USA / 60’ 

CONTAINER by MEGHNA SINGH
South Africa / 16’ 

BING MEI GUEI (THE SICK ROSE) by TANG ZHI-ZHONG,  HUANG YUN-HSIEN
Taiwan / 17’ 

MYRIAD.WHERE WE CONNECT. |VR EXPERIENCE by LENA THIELE, SEBASTIAN BAURMANN, DIRK HOFFMANN
Germany / 31’ 

THE LAST WORKER by JÖRG TITTEL
UK / 30’ 

EXPLORING HOME by SARA LISA VOGL
Germany / 16’ 

YI YUAN (THE FINAL WISH) by WANG HAIPEI, WANG SHANSHAN 
China / 20’ 

Special Event – Out of Competition 

IN THE MIST by CHOU TUNG-YEN
Taiwan / 15’ 

Best of VR Expanded – Out of Competition (selection of the best VR works launched since the 2020 edition) 

MASKMAKER by BALTHAZAR AUXIETRE
France / 300’ 

MIND VR EXPLORATION by DENG ZUYUN, YONG CAO
China / 15’ 

KUSUNDA by FELIX GAEDTKE, GAYATRI PARAMESWARAN
Germany, Nepal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan / 23’ 

MICRO MONSTERS WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH by ELLIOT GRAVES
UK, USA / 5’ 

MARE by RUI GUERREIRO
Japan, Sweden / 180’ 

SPACE EXPLORERS: THE ISS EXPERIENCE – EPISODES 1-2 by FÉLIX LAJEUNESSE, PAUL RAPHAËL
Canada, USA / 55’ 

SAM & MAX: THIS TIME IT’S VIRTUAL! by MICHAEL LEVINE
USA / 300’ 

MYST by RAND MILLER, HANNAH GAMIEL, ERIC ANDERSON
USA / 120’ 

KNOT: A TRILOGY by GLEN NEATH, DAVID ROSENBERG
UK / 65’ 

WRAITH: THE OBLIVION – AFTERLIFE by ERIK ODELDAHL
Sweden / 480’ 

JURASSIC WORLD AFTERMATH by RICHARD SNOWDON
UK, Australia, USA / 180’ 

REEDUCATED by SAM WOLSON, BEN MAUK, NICHOLAS RUBIN, MATT HUYNH
USA, Kazakhstan / 20’ 

Biennale College Cinema – VR – Out of Competition 

LAVRYNTHOS by AMIR ADMONI e FABITO RYCHTER, producer: FABITO RYCHTER
Brazil, Peru / 16’