Category: NewImages Festival

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Cannes XR & NewImages Create Joint Metaverse for 2022 Festivals

Film festivals have really come along leaps and bounds over the past couple of years when it comes to connecting with audiences via immersive worlds. Cannes XR has been one event at the forefront of these changes, previously collaborating with Tribeca Immersive and NewImages Festival on XR3 in 2021. Today, Cannes XR and NewImages Festival have announced a new partnership, launching a dedicated metaverse later this year called Alexandria.

CannesXR Alexandria

Built in collaboration with virtual space specialist Kreis, Alexandria has been conceived around the idea of a virtual port, a hub where guests can head out to enjoy the immersive works on offer. Over 30 VR works will be presented in Alexandria during the two festivals, with the inaugural Cannes XR event to take place in May whilst NewImages will be held a month later.

Accessible only through virtual reality (VR) headsets, Alexandria will serve as a common metaverse for both festivals. Previously, these sort of virtual exhibition spaces have been temporary, built for a festival and then taken down, much like the physical events they represent. Alexandria is going to be different as its job will be to host immersive events throughout the year.

“We’re delighted to participate in creating this truly inspiring virtual environment in partnership with NewImages Festival and Kreis. Opening in May, this futuristic world will host our Cannes XR exhibition which will showcase today’s most impressive VR artworks, carefully curated by our partner VeeR,” said Guillaume Esmiol, Co-Executive Director of Cannes’ Marché du Film in a statement.

Tribeca - MOR
XR3 2021 inside Museum of Other Realities

“We are very happy to renew our partnership with Cannes XR by launching a more ambitious project, which makes these virtual works accessible in a world without borders,” adds Michaël Swierczynski, Director of NewImages Festival. “Alexandria is both a shining light on the horizon of immersive creation and the home base for future ‘metaverses ‘ in art and culture.”

Alexandria will be compatible with SteamVR and Meta Quest headsets, with the Cannes XR exhibition taking place from 17th-28th May 2022. The NewImages Festival will run from 8th-12th June. Cannes XR will be free to both public audiences and professionals whilst access to the NewImages Festival exhibition requires accreditation.

For continued updates including which VR works will make the selection, keep reading gmw3.

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Virtual Film Festival XR3 Returns Tomorrow

XR3 - MOR

Last month Cannes XR, Tribeca Immersive and NewImages Festival collaborated on an XR industry first, a multi festival event held inside the Museum of Other Realities (MOR) called XR3. Also, rather unusually, access to XR3 online was split across two dates, with the next availability starting tomorrow 6th July.

Tribeca - MOR

MOR used to cost around £15 GBP on Steam and Viveport yet for the launch of XR3 in June the app was free to download. That’s going to remain so from now on, with MOR Museums Inc. confirming the app would be permanently free this month. If you did purchase MOR: “We want to thank everyone who purchased the MOR app, as without you, we wouldn’t be here. We’ll be in touch soon with in-app gifts of gratitude,” the company said in a tweet.

As for XR3, once you’ve got MOR downloaded you can then purchase each film festival’s content selection separately, providing plenty of titles for all you immersive film fans out there – there are over 30 works to explore. There’s a really wide variety of artistic expression on show, highlighting some of the amazing work being created within the XR industry.

Some of these you might already be familiar with as they’ve now been publically released for headsets. Most recently was the 45-minute mystery adventure Madrid Noir, developed by No Ghost and produced by Atlas V, arriving for Oculus Quest last week. Even Cortopia Studios’ puzzle videogame Down the Rabbit Hole makes an appearance.

Jailbirds

The XR3 content lineup:

  • Tribeca Immersive
    • The Changing Same: Episode 1
    • Critical Distance
    • Bystanding: The Feingold Syndrome
    • Jailbirds
    • Madrid Noir
    • Marco & Polo Go Round
    • Missing Pictures
    • Paper Birds Pt. 1 & 2
    • POV: Points of View
    • A Life in Pieces: The Diary and Letters of Stanley Hayami
    • The Passengers: The Kid
    • We Are At Home
    • Mine
  • NewImages Festival
    • Down the Rabbit Hole
    • Strands of Mind
    • Amends
    • Lady Sapiens, The Experience
    • Biolum
    • Paper Birds
    • Namoo
    • Jailbirds
    • Marco & Polo Go Round
    • We Are At Home
    • Kinshasa Now
    • Noah’s Raft
    • Reeducated
  • Cannes XR
    • The Dawn of Art
    • Agence
    • Book of Distance
    • Corpus Misty
    • Deep

XR3 via the Museum of Other Realities runs from 6th – 17th July for the final time. For all the latest immersive film updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Museum of Other Realities is Currently Free as Cannes, Tribeca and NewImages Launch XR3 Exhibition

Tribeca - MOR

Normally, film festivals tend to spread themselves out over the course of spring and summer to gain maximum exposure and attendance. What with the current situation regarding live events most have turned to a digital format to reach audiences. This has led to three major shows, Cannes XR, Tribeca Immersive and NewImages Festival combining efforts this week to showcase their immersive content across one hybrid event, XR3.

Jailbirds

To make this happen all three VR selections have been made available through the Museum of Other Realities (MOR), a virtual exhibition space that has previously been used for a number of events over the past year. Usually, these types of events aren’t always freely accessible or cheap but XR3 provides the best opportunity yet to view a varied selection of immersive works. To start with, MOR is currently free until 21st June 2021 – rather than the usual price of £15.49 GBP – via Steam and Viveport so it’s well worth adding to your library at any rate.

Each of the individual festivals are then paid DLC, all priced at £11.39 ($15 USD), so there’s not one giant entry fee if you want to see one particular selection. You can also gain entry into the festivals if you’ve bought one of their own passes or received accreditation. It’s worth noting that the DLC will only be available for a limited time, in two parts. Part one is open now until 20th June, after which the XR3 showcase will be closed until July. It’ll then reopen between 6th – 17th July.

If you’re into VR and how creators are blending storytelling with immersive filmmaking then XR3 has a lot to offer. Between all three selections there are over 50 works to explore, showcasing the amazing breadth of talent currently pursuing immersive arts. Due to the sheer amount of content you’ll need to ensure your computer has plenty of space as the DLC are download-heavy files, ranging between 30-50GB each.

Bystanding: The Feingold Syndrome

Works include 2021 premieres as well as previously released content like Paper Birds from last year. New projects exhibiting at XR3 include Madrid Noir, a 45-minute animated caper; Jailbirds, a tale about the prison system and freedom; Bystanding: The Feingold Syndrome, an immersive docufiction sharing the confessions of people who witnessed a kayak-rower drown, and Unity for Humanity Showcase which houses five works inside the Unity Garden.

Plus, if you happen to be in New York City, the Tribeca Film Festival is also hosting live, in-person events for all the works being shown. That includes the VR content at special locations. There’s also works such as the Inside Goliath – an account of one man’s experience of living with schizophrenia and psychosis – VR installation which can only be viewed in person.

The trend for virtual events looks set to stay as festivals can reach a much broader audience, so VRFocus will continue to cover these exciting developments.