Venice Immersive (VI) opened before the festival gala on Lazzaretto Vecchio, signaling a shift toward extended reality (XR) within a major film context. The programme presents 69 projects from 27 countries, chosen from roughly 450 submissions, and spans short VR animations to multi-hour interactive fantasies. The selection reflects increased narrative maturity as immersive creators adopt cinematic storytelling techniques. Established filmmakers such as Doug Liman and Edward Berger have moved into XR, while immersive practitioners incorporate conventional film lessons. Highlighted works include Menghui Huang's The Big Cube, Olov Redmalm and Klaus Lyngeled's The Midnight Walk, and Blur by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg.
The future came early to this year's Venice film festival as the event's pioneering Venice Immersive (VI) section launched a day before the official opening gala. Based on the small island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, a short boat ride from the main festival site, VI points to a possible new direction for cinema with an eclectic programme of extended reality (XR) artworks.
Our mission, in holding this event at one of the biggest film festivals, has always been to build bridges between the cinema industry and the budding immersive community, says Michel Reilhac, who established VI alongside co-curator Liz Rosenthal back in 2017. This year, I feel that mission is being manifested. As evidence, Reilhac points to the fact that two veteran mainstream directors The Bourne Identity's Doug Liman and Conclave's Edward Berger have made the jump to XR projects selected for this year's competition.
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