Official 2023 Venice Immersive selections revealed

The selection of projects for Venice Immersive, the XR – Extended Reality section of the 80th Venice International Film Festival (30th August – 9th September 2023) of La Biennale di Venezia, is now complete. The official program will take place on the Venice Immersive Island (island of Lazzaretto Vecchio), a short distance from the Lido di Venezia, on the following dates:

• 29th August (afternoon): press preview
• 30th August: open exclusively to Press and Industry accreditations
• 31st August – 9th September: open to the public and all accredited visitors

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.

The Venice Immersive section of the 80th Venice International Film Festival will be held with the support of HTC Vive and VRChat.

Venice Immersive will present 44 projects from 25 countries and 24 works in the Worlds Gallery section: 

• 28 projects in Competition
• 10 projects Out of Competition – Best of Venice Immersive (international selection of the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival)

• 6 projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema – VR: 1 project produced thanks to the grant from the seventh edition, 5 projects developed within the international workshop of the previous editions
• 24 worlds selected for the Worlds Gallery, presented in guided World Hops Tours, immersive guided tours. The users will be escorted through the selected VRChat Worlds featured in the Worlds Gallery. An ecosystem of virtual immersive worlds created by independent artists from all over the world

The Venice Immersive World on VRChat, will present a virtual version of the Venice Immersive Island. Following the success of the previous edition, the Worlds Gallery section will feature a selection of 24 virtual worlds.

The Venice International Film Festival was one of the first film festivals in the world to show an interest in Virtual Reality. The development of a VR Theatre 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, on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio on the Lido, judged by an International Jury. The online accessibility of Venice VR Expanded over two editions (2020 and 2021) represented a new commitment and a new challenge to guarantee that the Venice International Film Festival would continue to offer the experience of this new art form, even in times of required social distancing. In 2022 the section, renamed Venice Immersive, returned in person to the island.

Accredited visitors to the Venice Film Festival will have access to all the titles in the line-up. There will also be a special Venice Immersive Pass available for interested visitors who are not accredited at the Festival. The Venice Immersive Subscription is reserved to people over 18 years of age and is available in two formats:

5-DAYS Venice Immersive Subscription (€ 60): valid for 5 days

FULL Venice Immersive Subscription (€ 90): valid from 31st August to 9th September

The members of the international Jury of Venice Immersive are: 

• Singing Chen – president: (Taipei) her work encompasses fiction, documentary and VR films and has received numerous festival accolades. Her debut Bundled (2000) competed at Vancouver and God, Man, Dog (2007) screened at Berlinale, VIFF, HK, Busan and elsewhere. Chen’s documentaries detail artistic practice and the environment. Through VR technology she explores space and movement. Afterimage for Tomorrow (2018) was exhibited at the NewImage Festival. Her latest VR experience The Man Who Couldn’t Leave (2022) won Venice Immersive Best Experience at 79th Venice International Film Festival. Chen’s collective work is marked by a deep empathy for disenfranchised characters and a strong sense of social justice. 
• German Heller: (USA) is the co-founder and CEO of 3DAR, a leading company in the field of virtual reality and animation. With over 20 years of experience in the role, he has earned nominations for the Emmy awards and at the Venice International Film Festival for projects like Paper Birds, Gloomy Eyes and Eggscape. This last project won the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival in 2022. Heller’s diverse roles as a producer, writer, director, and game designer showcase his comprehensive expertise in XR and innovation in experiential design. A former software developer, he leverages his technical background to push the boundaries of digital storytelling and gaming. 
• Pedro Harres: (Brazil) is a director, animator, screenwriter and multimedia artist. He was born in 1984, in Porto Alegre and is now based in Berlin. His oeuvre encompasses a wide range of formats, ranging from animation to fiction; traditional screen to XR; and including interactive installations as well. The Venice Film Festival has always played an important role in his career. Castillo y el Armado, his multi-awarded animated short, premiered in the Orizzonti competition of the 71st edition of the festival.  After that, it gathered 55 awards and mentions throughout its festival career, including an Oscar qualification. And From The Main Square, his debut in virtual reality, won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival in 2022. 

The 2023 Venice Immersive Jury will award the following prizes:  

• Venice Immersive Grand Prize
• Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize
• Venice Immersive Achievement Prize

 –

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