Bourne Identity director Doug Liman will unveil his upcoming XR thriller Asteroid in the Venice Film Festival’s immersive showcase.
Asteroid, which is due to launch on Google’s XR App later this year, was among 69 works announced for Venice Immersive on Wednesday.
Produced by Google’s 100 Zeros, a content initiative in partnership with Range Media Partners, the immersive short follows 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.
Launched in 2017, Venice Immersive is dedicated to the immersive arts and media and includes all forms of creative XR expression including immersive videos, virtual and mixed reality, virtual worlds and immersive installations.
Asteroid will be among 30 works making their world or international premieres in the Venice Immersive Competition, which metes out Grand Jury, Special Jury and Achievement awards.
This year’s jury will be presided over by U.S. writer and director Eliza McNitt, whose credits include the Emmy-nominated, Darren Aronofsky-produced VR Spheres, starring Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith.
She will be joined by 2024 Venice Immersive winners: French Luxembourgish director and producer Gwenael François, whose VR work Oto’s Planet won the Special Jury Prize, and French director Boris Labbé, whose Ito Meikyū won the Grand Prize.
Further Venice Immersive Competition titles include Face Jumping, by Danny Cannizzaro and Samantha Gorman, co-founders of games studio Tender Claws which previously made waves with Stranger Things VR (2024) and Virtual Virtual Reality (2017).
The interactive, eye-tracked VR experience – which enables players to swap perspectives by making eye contact with characters, animals, and objects – premiered in SXSW earlier this year.
The competition also features Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s The Exploding Girl VR, which previously competed in Cannes’ immersive program in May, and UK work The Time Before by Leo Metcalf and Michael Golembewski, probing the mechanics of childhood memory, which debuted in the UK’s Raindance festival.
The entire selection will be showcased from August 27 to September 6 on the Venice Immersive Island, situated on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, just a three-minute vaporetto ride from festival’s main Lido di Venezia hub.
Another 34 projects will also play Out of Competition under the Best of Experiences and Best of Worlds banners.
Best of Experiences showcases 11 works that have been making waves since the last edition of the Venice Immersive.
They include Submerged, the first scripted short film captured in Apple Immersive Video, written and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Edward Berger, and Chloé Rochereuil’s D-Day: The Camera Soldier, an interactive documentary delves exploring the untold story of a World War II D-Day combat cameraman, the late Richard Taylor.
The Best Of Worlds sidebar is devoted to 23 projects created by independent artists from all over the world on the VRChat social platform. Venice Immersive will also showcase another five projects developed under the auspices of the Biennale College Cinema – Immersive training program.
VENICE IMMERSIVE LINE-UP
In Competition
LA MAGIE OPÉRAby JONATHAN ASTRUCFrance / 25’ / installation, virtual reality
1968by ROSE BONDUSA / 9’ / installation, virtual reality
THE SAD STORY OF THE LITTLE MOUSE WHO WANTED TO BECOME SOMEBODYby NICOLAS BOURNIQUELFrance, Germany, Belgium / 30’ / virtual reality
CREATION OF THE WORLDSby KRISTINA BUOŽYTĖ, VITALIJUS ŽUKASLithuania / 28’ / virtual reality
FACE JUMPINGby DANNY CANNIZZARO, SAMANTHA GORMAUSA / 25’ / virtual reality
8PM AND THE CATby MINHYUK CHESouth Korea / 14’ / virtual reality
THE CLOUDS ARE TWO THOUSAND METERS UPby SINGING CHENTaipei, Germany / 50’ / installation, virtual reality
DARK ROOMSby MADS DAMSBO, ANNE SOFIE STEEN SVERDRUPDenmark, Germany, Taipei / 35’ / installation, virtual reality
THE GREAT ORATORby DANIEL ERNSTThe Netherlands / 40’ / virtual reality
HEARTBEAT – SON CŒUR A TROUVÉ SA CADENCE DANS LE SILENCE DES RENCONTRESby FANNY FORTAGEFrance / 10’ / immersive installation
THE BIG CUBEby MENGHUI HUANGFinland, Belgium, China, Portugal / 7’ / virtual reality
MIRAGEby NAIMA KARIM, ALEENA HANIFSaudi Arabia, The Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK / 8’ / virtual reality, haptics
REFLECTIONS OF LITTLE RED DOTby CHLOÉ LEEGermany, USA / 40’ / installation, mixed reality
THE SHADOWby BLANCA LI, EDITH CANAT DE CHIZYFrance, Taipei / 60’ / installation, mixed reality, live performance
ASTEROIDby DOUG LIMANUSA, Canada / 30’ / installation, virtual reality
THE TIME BEFOREby LEO METCALF, MICHAEL GOLEMBEWSKIUK / 15’ / virtual reality
DANSE DANSE DANSE – MATISSE (DANCE DANCE DANCE – MATISSE)by AGNÈS MOLIA, GORDONFrance / 10’ / virtual reality
LESS THAN 5GR OF SAFFRONby NÉGAR MOTEVALYMEIDANSHAHFrance / 7’ / virtual reality
EMPATHY CREATURESby MÉLODIE MOUSSETSwitzerland / 10’ / installation, virtual reality
LA FILLE QUI EXPLOSE VR (THE EXPLODING GIRL VR)by CAROLINE POGGI, JONATHAN VINELFrance / 20’ / virtual reality
BLURby CRAIG QUINTERO, PHOEBE GREENBERGCanada, Taipei / 50’ / installation, virtual reality, live performance
BLACK CATS & CHEQUERED FLAGSby ELISABETTA ROTOLO, SIOBHAN MCDONNELLItaly / 20’ / installation, mixed reality, virtual reality
EDDIE AND Iby MAYA SHEKELIsrael, Germany, France / 25’ / virtual reality
COLLECTIVE BODYby SARAH SILVERBLATT-BUSERFrance, USA / 20’ / installation, virtual reality
ALIEN PERSPECTIVEby JUNG AH SUH, CRISTINA RAMBALDIUSA, Italy / 15’ / installation, virtual reality
THE GREAT ESCAPEby JOREN VANDENBROUCKEBelgium, Luxembourg / 20’ / virtual reality
A LONG GOODBYEby KATE VOET, VICTOR MAESBelgium / 35’ / installation, virtual reality
IF YOU SEE A CATby ATSUSHI WADAJapan / 37’ / virtual reality
MULAN2125by MO HUANGChina / 56’ / virtual reality
SENSE OF NOWHEREby HSIN-HSUAN YEHTaipei, Finland, Belgium, Portugal, France / 30’ / virtual reality
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)
Best of Experiences
WALL TOWN WONDERSby IVES AGEMANSBelgium / 30’ / mixed reality
ONE TRUE PATH, PART 1By BALTHAZAR AUXIETREFrance/ 90’ / virtual reality
SUBMERGEDBy EDWARD BERGER FOR APPLEUSA/ 17’ / immersive film
GHOST TOWNby FIREPROOF GAMESUK / 300’ / virtual reality
ADVENTURE: ICE DIVEby CHARLOTTE MIKKELBORG FOR APPLE AND ATLANTIC STUDIOSUS, Iceland / 15’ / immersive film
ANCESTORSby STEYE HALLEMAThe Netherlands / 70’ / immersive installation
LILIby NAVID KHONSARI, VASSILIKI KHONSARIUS / 30’ / immersive installation
ON THE OTHER EARTHby WAYNE MCGREGORUK / 50’ / immersive installation, mixed reality
THE MIDNIGHT WALKby OLOV REDMALM, KLAUS LYNGELEDSweden, Brazil, India / 360’ / virtual reality
D-DAY: THE CAMERA SOLDIERby CHLOÉ ROCHEREUILFrance, USA / 22’ / virtual reality
CONSTANTINOPOLIADby SISTER SYLVESTER, NADAH EL SHAZLYUK, Greece / 55’ / immersive installation
Best of Worlds
NATURA’S QUEENDOM by Anders Fray, StarheartCYBERLOVE ｜ A7 by Artsy GlitchUNCANNY LOUNGE by Christopher Lane Davis, Rick TreweekRITUAL by DrMorroTHE COLONY – FLAT 804 by Glory NyaEXHIBITION ⁄ BACK SEEING by haruki_haruWHAT IS VIRTUAL ART – VOLUME 1 by JessienTHE REALITY OF HOPE by Joe HuntingNEURON by Juice…YORUTOUGE by mikkabouzu / KikuoFLAT EARTH by Niko LangEXPERIENCE by NOOTAUPOWDERGAME by Pema MallingLIGHT AQUARIUM by phi16BREAK 15˸ ARCANUM by PK / reklumaVENT. by Premium²FZMZ POINT ZERO by ReeeznDSCALE JOURNEY by S_AsagiriSHINONOME BALLOON – by sakanaplusDRACULA’S CASTLE by Tanner WhiteMIRAGE by TOKYO WAIYOZNEOWORLDS by Widget365FLASHING WARNING by xlxxl
Biennale College Cinema – Immersive – Out of Competition
RI-LANCIA LUIGI BROGLIO (RE-LAUNCHING LUIGI BROGLIO)by VINCENZO CAVALLOItaly / 33’ / installation, virtual realitySupported by the grant BCC Immersive 9th edition (2024/2025)
OUT OF NOWHEREby KRIS HOFMANN, ANDREAS WUTHEAustria, Germany / 10’ / virtual reality
HAPPY SHADOWby PEI-YING LIN, TING-RUEI SUTaipei / 25’ / installation, virtual reality
MNEMOSYNEby WUERJapan, China / 35’ / installation, virtual reality
FIRST VIRTUAL SUITby KAZUKI YUHARAJapan / 35’ / installation, virtual reality
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