Cannes Film Festival (May 15-24) has unveiled the eight titles for its inaugural immersive competition, including projects featuring Cate Blanchett, Millie Bobby Brown, Patti Smith, Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain.
The competition includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, as well as projection mapping and holographic works.
Evolver is voiced by Blanchett, and has previously played at Tribeca and Geneva International Film Festiva. It is helmed by Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin and Robin McNicholas of London-based art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. Dirty Films is also a production company, and Coco Francini, Blanchett, and Andrew Upton are executive producers on the virtual reality project, which is billed as a free roaming, immersive journey through the breathing body.
Marshmallow Laser Feast are moving into story-driven work for their next project, Sweet Dreams, which has received BFI production support.
Ioana Mischie’s Human Violins – Prelude is also playing, having previously taken part in the Venice Immersive strand. It follows the fictionalised story of a 15-year-old violin lover inhabiting a world of terror, during the Holocaust, when many Jews were allowed to choose only one object to take with them before being brought to the camps.
The best immersive work award will be presented at Cannes’ closing ceremony on May 23.
Out of competition, a three-part virtual reality project exploring the sounds of the cosmos featuring Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown and Patti Smith, Spheres, will screen. It is created by Eliza McNitt, with Darren Aronofsky among the producers, and the composers of Netflix series Stranger Things among McNitt’s collaborators on creating the sound experience.
Immersive competition
En Amour (UK-Fr-US)
Dirs: Claire Bardainne, Adrien Mondot, Laurent Bardainne
Cast: Claire Bardainne (voice over), November Ultra (singing voice)
Prods: Adrien M & Claire B, Ekleroshock records
Evolver (UK-Fr-US)
Dirs: Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin, Robin McNicholas
Cast: Cate Blanchett
Prods: Marshmallow Laser Feast, Atlas V, Pressman Film, Orange, Bia-Echo Foundation
Human Violins: Prelude (multi-user version) (Rom-Fr)
Dir: Ioana Mischie
Cast: Cabiria Morgenstern
Prods: Storyscapes, Da Prod, Studioset
Maya: The Birth Of A Superhero (UK-Fr-US)
Dirs: Poulomi Basu, CJ Clarke
Cast: Indira Varma, Kathy Packianathan, Indira Varma, Charithra Chandran, Florrie Antoniou
Prods: Just Another Production Company, Floréal, Meta VR for Good, France Télévisions, Francetv Storylab, Meta
Colored (Fr-Tai)
Dirs: Tania de Montaigne, Stéphane Foenkinos, Pierre-Alain Giraud
Cast: Tania de Montaigne, Rebecca Naluyange, Keril Daniel Elombe, Véronique Bailey, Jona Kraft, Sergei Laev, Mbongiseni Kunene, Craig Thomas Crawford, John Harve Jackson, Gwei Lun-Mei, Susanna Dimitri
Prods: Novaya, Flash Forward Entertainment, Centre Pompidou
Telos I (Can-Swe-Den)
Dirs: Dorotea Saykaly, Emil Dam Seidel
Cast: Dorotea Saykaly
Prods: Dorotea Saykaly, Emil Dam Seidel
The Roaming (Fr-Lux-Can)
Dir: Mathieu Pradat
Cast: Axel Beaumont, Pierre Tallaron, Tony Sanial, Mila Pousséo, Chloé Froget, Anne Klein, Marianne Bourg
Prods: La prairie productions, Wild Fang Films, Normal Studio, Small Creative
Traversing The Mist (Tai)
Dir: Tung-Yen Chou
Cast: Jing-Yan Lin
Prod: Very Theatre
Immersive selection – non-competition works
Battlescar (Fr-US)
Dirs. Martin Allais, Nico Casavecchia
Cast: Dawson, Jehnny Beth, Lo Rivera
Prods: Atlas V, Albyon, 1STAveMachine, ARTE France, Oculus, Ryot
Emperor (Fr-Ger)
Dirs. Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Vimala Pons
Prods: Atlas V, Reynard Films, France Télévisions
Gloomy Eyes (Arg-Fr-US)
Dirs: Fernando Maldonado, Jorge Tereso
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Colin Farrell, Max Riemelt, Jorge Drexler, Jam Hsiao
Prods: Atlas V, 3dar, ARTE France, HTC, Ryot
Missing Pictures: Naomi Kawase (Fr-UK-Tai-Lux-S Kor)
Dir: Clément Deneux
Cast: Naomi Kawase
Prods: Atlas V, ARTE France, BBC, PTS, Serendipity Films, Wild Fang Films, Giioii
Notes On Blindness (Fr-UK)
Dirs: Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton, James Spinney
Cast: John Hull (English version), Lambert Wilson (French version)
Prods: Ex Nihilo, ARTE France, Archer’s Mark, Novelab
Spheres (US-Fr)
Dir. Eliza McNitt
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown, Patti Smith
Prods: Protozoa Pictures, City Lights, Crime of Curiosity, Atlas V
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