The immersive arts are redefining how we experience the world around us. The 29 projects presented in our XR Experience Competition, XR Experience Spotlight and XR Experience Special Event sections emphasize storytelling, ingenuity and also showcase how artists of all types are embracing this new medium.
XR Experience Competition
Black Ice VRDirector/Screenwriter/Producer: Arif KhanIn the cyberpunk future, a young woman visits a memory editor in an effort to suppress a dark memory of a murder she committed. However, the more she alters the memory, the more she finds herself wanting to kill again. (World Premiere)
Choctaw Code Talkers 1918Directors/Screenwriters/Producers: Kilma Lattin, Catherine EngWhile many have heard of the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, far less known is the story of the original Code Talkers– the 19 Choctaw soldiers who served in World War I France. Developed as a geolocated XR360º™ experience for the Our Worlds app. (World Premiere)
Gumball DreamsDirector: Deirdre V. Lyons, Screenwriters: Deirdre V. Lyons, Christopher Lane Davis, Producers Ferryman CollectiveOn a foreign planet, you have been sent on a mission to help an alien creature transition. Falling through memories, Onyx reveals the music of the spheres and the nature of existence, as you fly through worlds both inner and outer. Greetings, traveler. (World Premiere)
(Hi)story of a Painting: The Light in the Shadow (United Kingdom)Directors: Quentin Darras, Gaëlle Mourre, Screenwriter: Gaëlle Mourre, Producers: Charlotte Mikkelborg, Gaëlle Mourre Journey into Artemisia Gentileschi’s chiaroscuro world and discover how this self-portrait shines a light on her life as a survivor, an internationally celebrated artist and a woman in 17th Century Italy. (World Premiere)
Ihyangjeong: Carving with Memories (Republic of Korea)Director/Screenwriter: Sunghwan Lee, Producers: Rene Hyewon Lee, Mina HyeonThe purpose of this project is to ask tired modern people what a house is through the main character's memory of a traditional Korean House called Ihyangjeong which is located in Yangdong village, Korea. (World Premiere)
Komez Alef O (Germany)Director: Ioulia Isserlis, Screenwriters: Ioulia Isserlis and Victor Isserlis, Producers: Ioulia Isserlis, Max SackerKomez Alef O is a deeply personal VR journey into the memories of a Holocaust survivor. It is a story of despair and hope during the most terrifying time in modern history, told in his own voice and visually reimagined by his daughter. (World Premiere)
Lustration VR - Series 1 (Australia, U.S.)Director: Ryan Griffen, Screenwriters: Ryan Griffen, Nayuka Gorrie. Producers: Carolina Sorensen, Taryne LaffarA 4 part animated VR series set in the after-life based on the comics 'Lustration' by Ryan Griffen. Life is Hard. Life after death is harder. (World Premiere)
On the Morning You Wake (To the End of the World) (France, United Kingdom, U.S.)Directors: Dr. Jamaica Heolomeleikalani Osorio, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Pierre Zandrowicz, Arnaud Colinart, Screenwriters: Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Producers: Arnaud Colinart, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Jo-Jo EllisonOn the morning of January 13th 2018, as people in Hawai'i went about their daily routines, they received an SMS from the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency: "Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill." (World Premiere)
Paradise (United Kingdom, U.S.)Directors: Gabo Arora, David Rosenberg, Glen Neath, Screenwriter: Glen Neath, Producers: Victoria Eyton, Barry Pousman, Rachael TurnerAn AI powered immersive audio experience designed for couples, exploring why we stay together or fall apart. (World Premiere)
Red Antz VRDirector: Peter Nichols, Producer: Lawra Suits-ClarkAn interactive music video, with the experimental punk band Palberta. Put the ants on your body. No one hears the song the same way. (World Premiere)
Weird TimesDirectors: Ryan Hartsell, Ruby Wang, Screenwriters: Rachel Hastings ("#HappyFAIL"), Rick Cisario ("BrainFAIL"), Producers: Jen Cadic, Julia GibsonThrough an appropriately surreal animated lens, Weird Times is an honest and irreverent VR series that takes you into the mind and perspective of modern teenagers growing up in a beautiful and brutal world that's unlike anything experienced before. (World Premiere)
XR Experience Spotlight
Beatday - The Beginning - Mini VR Concert (Taiwan)Directors: Cheng Chih-Jen, Liu Szu-Ming, Producers: Gunter Lee, Ruby Liu, Nina WengBeatday: The Beginning – Mini VR Concert is the first VR experience of the Beatday franchise. It is a LBE multi-player experience that allows audiences to participate in the concert from VR devices. (World Premiere)
Breonna's Garden (Canada)Director: Lady PheØnix, Producers: Lady PheØnix, Alison LuckerBreonna’s Garden honors the life and memory of Breonna Taylor while cultivating a safe healing space for anyone to plant a message of hope for Breonna’s family or a personal message in remembrance of someone they miss. (World Premiere)
CompositionDirector: Vincent Morisset, Producer: AATOAABy manipulating cubes on the table, Composition becomes at the same time a world, a sculpture, an instrument, and a multi-handed dance. (U.S. Premiere)
Genesis (Germany)Director/Screenwriter: Joerg Courtial, Producer: Maria CourtialGenesis embarks on an emotionally intense virtual reality journey to experience the dramatic milestones in the evolution of earth and mankind. (North American Premiere)
Goliath: Playing with Reality (France)Directors: Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla, Screenwriter: Barry Gene Murphy, Producer: Anetta JonesGoliath: Playing with Reality is a 25 minute animated VR experience about schizophrenia, gaming and connection. (Texas Premiere)
Gondwana (Australia)Director: Ben Joseph Andrews, Producer: Emma RobertsA durational VR experience that unfurls over 24 hours, Gondwana is a constantly-evolving virtual ecosystem chronicling the possible futures of the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, the Daintree. (Texas Premiere)
Liminal Lands (Denmark, France, U.S.)Director: Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Producers: Erratic Animist, Liz KircherPart fiction and part documentation, Liminal Lands is a journey from the sea to the soil, a trip through wetlands at the edges of the Mediterranean. Up to four people morph into elemental energies, journeying through the Camargue nature reserve. (North American Premiere)
LIPs (Taiwan)Director/Screenwriter: Peiying Lin, Producer: Chin-Hsuan Sung, C.K. Hugo ChungA woman has two pairs of lips: her mouth, and her vulva. LIPs is an interactive virtual reality experience inviting the audience to enter a female body to awaken her desire, resulting in an immersive journey of eroticism. (International Premiere)
Madame Pirate: Becoming a Legend (Taiwan)Directors/Screenwriters: Morgan Ommer, Dan-Chi Huang, Producers: Estela Valdivieso Chen, Adam Cullen Young, Lin Jin-YaoThe untold story of Madame Ching, the greatest pirate of all time. (International Premiere)
Minimum Mass (New Zealand)Directors/Screenwriters: Raqi Syed, Areito Echevarria, Producers: Raqi Syed, Katayoun Dibamehr, Avi AmarA couple experience a series of miscarriages and come to believe their children are being born in another dimension. (Texas Premiere)
Paper Birds Part II (Argentina)Directors: German Heller, Federico Carlini, Screenwriter: Germán Heller, Producers: Federico Carlini, Germán Heller, Averie Timm Paper Birds is a 30 minute interactive story about a young musician in search of true inspiration. Starring Ed Norton, Joss Stone and Archie Yates, this VR film offers a unique way of interactivity with hand tracking as it has never seen before.
Persuasion MachinesDirectors: Karim Amer, Guvenc Ozel, Screenwriters: Karim Amer, Daniel Claridge, Bits Sola, Producers: Ricky Berrin, Elizabeth Woodward, Jess Engel, Danielle OexmannEnter a smart living room that asks the question: are we in control of our devices or are they in control of us? Using mixed reality, Persuasion Machines makes visible the invisible process of personal data collection and targeted marketing (Texas Premiere)
Surviving 9/11 - 27 hours under the rubble (France)Directors: Chloé Rochereuil, Victor Agulhon, Producer: Victor AgulhonDiscover the extraordinary story of Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the last survivor rescued from the rubble at Ground Zero. Featuring never-seen-before 360° images of the World Trade Center, this experience is a unique virtual reality dive into her story.
The Choice (Canada, Poland)Director: Joanne Popinska, Producers: Joanne Popinska, Tom C. HallDebate about abortion is often heated. But behind every decision there is a human story. Using volumetric video and creative design, this film lets us see from a different perspective the emotional and complex nature behind one woman’s Choice. (North American Premiere)
The Green Planet AR Experience (United Kingdom)Director: Jamie Davies, Screenwriters: Jamie Davies, Martin Williams, Producers: Sucharita Ghosh Stephenson, Lou GarrodJoin David Attenborough, through the magic of augmented reality, on an immersive journey into the secret kingdom of plants. Inspired by the new BBC series, explore our green planet as you never have before in this ground-breaking experience. (North American Premiere)
The Sick Rose (Taiwan)Directors/Screenwriters: Tang, Zhi-Zhong, Huang, Yun-Hsien, Producers: Liu Szu-Ming, Jack HuangRose had a quarrel with her mother. Despite being ill, Rose still wants to apologize to her mother. However, the pandemic has made the way to the hospital difficult. Sick and lost, how can Rose find her mother who works in the hospital? (U.S. Premiere)
XR Experience Special Events
SXSW NFT GalleryBlending the IRL and digital, marcel.art XR showcase explores the future of creative content. Across eight exhibitions with rotating showtimes, sixty four emerging artists of multiple disciplines connect with eight creative curators. (International Premiere)
