For its 2020 edition, the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes’ XR program dedicated to virtual and augmented reality becomes “Cannes XR Virtual” from June 24 to 26. This three-day event will be entirely dedicated to players from the creative industries who use virtual and augmented reality technologies.
This unique edition is taking place within the framework of the Marché du Film Online virtual film market (June 22-26).
For this occasion, the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes has teamed up with key players from the immersive industry:
Cannes XR Virtual’s objective is to allow artists and producers in the XR industry to continue to develop their projects, and present their works despite the sanitary crisis. In total more than 55 XR pieces will be presented between projects in development and world previews.
“During this very peculiar time, the Marché du Film is more than determined to highlight the XR industry and to foster links between artists and potential investors to support creation in all its richness and diversity. We are very proud to partner with these leading partners in the XR sector,” said Jérôme Paillard, Executive director of the Marché du Film.
Works in the MOR
55 pieces (including 23 Cannes XR Development Showcase) will be visible in the MOR. They have been selected by the Tribeca Film Festival, VeeR VR and Positron. Two prizes will be awarded by a jury of professionals on June 26 at 9 p.m. (France time): the VeeR Future Award and the Positron Visionary Award.
Tribeca Virtual Arcade Sponsored by AT&T
Tribeca Virtual Arcade @ Cannes XR is an innovative virtual exhibition as part of Cannes’ venerable Marché du Film. Attendees will encounter a lineup of 12 VR and MR experiences and exhibits (among them five world, international or European premières) from new and established artists using unique technology and perspective to tell stories. In addition, Tribeca will also host two creative panel discussions and a virtual dance party as part of their contribution to this groundbreaking event.
“At the heart of Tribeca Immersive is our commitment to showcase new technology and social experiences as a dynamic vehicle for storytelling,” said Loren Hammonds, Senior Programmer, Film & Immersive for Tribeca Film Festival. “This year’s program was set to feature some of the most innovative experiences to date. Now, as we forge a path towards a still uncertain future, we are excited to present a selection of those projects virtually, tackling adaptation and innovation in another context.”
Among the exciting animated offerings in the Tribeca Virtual Arcade are Mary and the Monster (U.S.), A Linha (Brazil), The Book of Distance (Canada) and Gravity VR (Brazil/Peru). See the full program here.
VeeR Future Award
Veer 360 Cinema at Cannes XR will gather 14 finalists from eight countries (among them one world premiere) selected for their ability to take advantage of virtual reality as a medium, offering the physical and emotional presence to viewers. The genres vary from live action and documentaries to animation and digital art.
The jury is composed of festival programmers, producers, industry leaders, distributors and academic researchers: Elie Levasseur – XR program Leader at Marché du Film; René Pinnell – CEO & Founder at Kaleidoscope; Jingshu Chen – Co-Founder at VeeR; Liz Rosenthal – Programmer at Venice VR, Venice International Film Festival, Executive Producer at CreativeXR, CEO & Founder at Power to the Pixel; Michel Reilhac – Programmer at Venice VR; Loren Hammonds – Senior Programmer, Film & Immersive at Tribeca Film Festival; Astrid Kahmke – Festival Director at Virtual Worlds; Jay Kim – Producer; CoFounder at GiiÖii, XR curator at BIFAN; Xun Li – Senior Researcher, China Film Art Research Centre (China Film Archive).
From the Official Selection, one project shall be selected and awarded with $1,000 USD cash and a Premium Distribution Package worth $10,000 USD which includes global marketing campaigns, online & LBE distribution, and Chinese localization.
Animated contenders include the buzzworthy anti-bullying piece Upstander by Van Phan, Doctor Who: The Runaway, Battlescar Ep. 1, featuring the voice of Rosario Dawson, and Ethan Shaftel’s Annie nominated monster comedy Kaiju Confidential. Full program available here.
Positron Visionary Award
The Positron Showcase will gather six XR pieces representing a diverse spectrum of excellence in storytelling: from futuristic sci-fi, to whimsical free-falling branching narratives, to documentaries that take us to dangerous places few have ventured, to tales of sacrifice and love. Animation, live action, 360 films and interactive experiences — each representing some of the best cinematic content in VR today.
Viola Davis, Co-Founder & CEO of JuVee Productions, serves as president of an esteemed jury comprising Christina Lee-Storm (VR Producer, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Virtual / Dragons Flight Academy), Jake Sally (Head of Development, RYOT – a Verizon Company), John Canning (Executive Producer – New Media & Experiential, Digital Domain), Josh Nelson (Head of Immersive & Interactive Media, JuVee Productions) and Jeffrey Travis (CEO / Producer at Positron).
The top prize is a Positron Voyager motion chair, delivered to the studio of the winning creator, along with a distribution deal ($60,000 value).
The exacting selection includes the Yellow Boat of Hope project Lutaw (U.S./Philippines) and sci-fi thriller The Great C, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick (Canada/U.S.). See more here.
Cannes XR Development Showcase
Cannes XR Development Showcase in association with Kaleidoscope presents some of the most exciting international works in development today seeking production and distribution support.
Curated by Kaleidoscope, Cannes XR and XR experts, this showcase aims to bring in-development projects into a global spotlight and to facilitate the post-prototype work on projects. The selection presents 23 projects from 14 countries representing different formats (6DoF, 360 video, augmented reality, real time installations) and different genres (Documentary, Game, Animation, Art installation), but all relying on the power of storytelling.
The stories selected for this year’s edition revolve around major global issues: climate emergency, human relationship with nature, technological acceleration and social issues that demand immediate attention. Selected projects will pitch to international decision makers over a period of three days and present their work-in-progress materials inside the Museum of Other Realities.
The selections include envelope-pushing animation works such as Convict Story (Studio ANRK), Find Willy (Giiöii) and Remembrance (StudioBento) as well as lovely new worlds to discover in Ahoy! (Åker Workshop) and Le Bal de Paris by Blanca Li. See all 23 projects here.
Among the decision makers who have confirmed their participation, many market-leading technological players will take part, such as: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, HP, HTC, Ryot/Verizon Media, Huawei, Epic games, Unity.
