If you are in Venice between 1-11 September, you can view onsite the selection of best works for the Venice VR Expanded of the La Biennale di Venezia at Sala Amici, Palazzo del Casinò, Lido di Venezia.
But this year, the selection can be viewed at 14 venues from 10 countries, as well as online!
The venues that partnered with the festival to screen the works are from all corners of the world, and will provide onsite the VR equipment necessary to visitors.
Here is the list of the prestigious cultural institutions that participated in Satellite Programe (appointment and booking can be done directly at them, from 1 – 19 September):
Centre PHI, Montréal, Canada
Sandman Studios – Sandbox Immersive Festival, Beijing and Shanghai, China
MC2: Grenoble, Grenoble, France
Centquatre-Paris, Paris, France
Invr.Space, Berlin, Germany
MEET Digital Culture Center | Fondazione Cariplo, Milan, Italy
Laboratorio Aperto di Modena , Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini – Modena, Italy
Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin, Italy
M9 – Museum of the 20th Century, Venice Mestre, Italy
Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Less Media Group – Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), Moscow, Russia
Espronceda – Institute of Art & Culture, Barcelona, Spain
Euromersive Turkey – IKSV Salon & Kolektif House (Maslak), Istanbul, Turkey
Portland Art Museum & Northwest Film Center – Portland Art Museum, Portland, USA
Each of these institutions, from 1 – 19 September, will create a space open to the public equipped with VR headsets, in which spectators may view the projects in competition at Venice VR Expanded, the projects Out of Competition – Best of VR Expanded (including our VR Chat Worlds Gallery, a selection of 35 worlds and 5 special events in VR Chat) and the project developed during the fifth edition of Biennale College Cinema – VR, plus a Special Event – Out of Competition (only ON SITE and ON SATELLITE, not ONLINE).
The Venice VR Expanded program is exciting as it will present 37 projects from 21 Countries and 35 VRChat worlds!
But, firstly, who will compete this year? (23 works were selected that will compete for the following prizes: Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work, Best VR Experience and Best VR Story.)
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, Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 15’
BEDLAM
by MAT COLLISHAW
France, UK, Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 45’
GENESIS
by JOERG COURTIAL
Germany / 13’
SPIRIT OF PLACE
by DALE DEACON
South Africa, Denmark / 30’
LUN HUI (SAMSARA) COMPLETE PART 1 AND 2 VERSION
by HSIN-CHIEN HUANG
Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 21’
CAVES
by CARLOS ISABEL GARCÍA
Switzerland / 19’
CLAP
by KEISUKE ITOH
Japan / 13’
TEARLESS
by GINA KIM
South Korea, USA / 12’
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
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, SIMON WOOD
South Africa / 16’
BING MEI GUEI (THE SICK ROSE)
by TANG ZHI-ZHONG, HUANG YUN-HSIEN
Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 17’
MYRIAD.WHERE WE CONNECT. |VR EXPERIENCE
by LENA THIELE, SEBASTIAN BAURMANN, DIRK HOFFMANN
Germany / 31’
THE LAST WORKER
by JÖRG TITTEL
UK, Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 30’
EXPLORING HOME
by SARA LISA VOGL
Germany / 16’
YI YUAN (THE FINAL WISH)
by WANG HAIPEI, WANG SHANSHAN
China / 20’
1 Special Event – Out of Competition
IN THE MIST
by CHOU TUNG-YEN
Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 15’
12 projects Out of Competition – Best Of (selection of the finest VR work 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, Taipei* (*as per Institutional practices) / 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
The project, selected for the fifth edition (2020/2021) of Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality, which received a production grant of €60,000 from La Biennale di Venezia and which will be screened at the 78th Venice Film Festival (Venice VR Expanded) is:
LAVRYNTHOS
by AMIR ADMONI and FABITO RYCHTER, producer: FABITO RYCHTER
Brazil, Peru / 16’
produced with the Biennale College Cinema VR grant
The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality projects have received generous funding from the MEDIA – Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission – General Direction Connect. This funding is in addition to the support received from the MEDIA Programme for the development of the Venice Production Bridge.
35 selected worlds in VRChat in VRChat Worlds Gallery with 5 Special Events
A MAZE․ TRAIN STATION
AQUARIUS
ATLANTIS˸ SUPERRARE EXHIBITION
CLUB GUMBALL
CRAFTY CLIMB
ERS
CRYPT OF THE SPIRITS
CRYSTAL DUNES
CYCLE OF LIFE
DEEP BLUE NIGHT
EDEN
FFCR
FRANK
GUMBALL LOUNGE
KARAOKE CENTRA
LAST HOPE WATCH TOWER
LOST IT
MIRЯIM
MONORAIL COASTER
MONORAIL COASTER LITE
MOSCOW TRIP 1952
MUSEUM-OF-VRPAINTING
NOIR – CALL OF THE VOID (SPOOKALITY RELEASE｜TECH DEMO)
RAAWRS’ ELNO-THEL FOREST
SAPIENSTRUCT
SUBMERGE 2
SURREAL HAZARD
SXSW XR 2021
THE DEVOURING
THE EDGE
THE FORT
THE HALLWYL MUSEUM
THE JUNKYARDǃ
TREEHOUSE IN THE SHADE
UNCANNY ALLEY
WORLD.EXECUTE (ME)
BRAINDANCE
JEAN-MICHEL JARRE CONCERT
M.A.S.S.
MYCELIA
SHELTER
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 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.
ABOUT 125 YEARS OF VENICE BIENNALE
The Venice Biennale has been for over 120 years one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Established in 1895, the Biennale has an attendance today of over 500,000 visitors at the Art Exhibition. La Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895 and is now one of the most famous and prestigious cultural organizations in the world. La Biennale, who stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new contemporary art trends, organizes exhibitions and research in all its specific departments: Arts (1895), Architecture (1980), Cinema (1932), Dance (1999), Music (1930), and Theatre (1934). Its history is documented at the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts (ASAC) that has been completely renovated in recent years
