Venice Immersive Selection and Competition announced

The selection of projects for Venice Immersive, the XR - Extended Reality section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (27^th August – 6^th September 2025) of La Biennale di Venezia, is now complete. Launched in 2017, the section represents the first competition and official selection for works in Extended Reality in an A-list festival. The official programme will take place on the Venice Immersive Island (island of Lazzaretto Vecchio), just a three-minute vaporetto ride from the Lido di Venezia, on the following dates:

26th August (afternoon): press preview
27th August – 6th September: open to all accredited visitors

Venice Immersive is entirely dedicated to the immersive arts and media and includes all forms of creative XR expression: immersive videos, virtual and mixed reality, virtual worlds and immersive installations. The Venice Immersive section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival will be held with the support of VRChat.

Venice Immersive will present 69 projects from 27 countries:
30 projects in Competition, representing a selection of 21 world premieres and 9 international premieres of the world’s best immersive works;
34 projects Out of Competition, an international selection of the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival; this section is divided into:
Best of Experiences, 11 projects
Best of Worlds, 23 projects, created by independent artists from all over the world on the VRChat social platform, an ecosystem of virtual worlds presented in guided tours;
5 projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema – Immersive training program: 1 project produced thanks to the grant from this year’s ninth edition, 4 projects developed within the past editions of the international workshop.

The Venice International Film Festival was one of the first film festivals in the world to show an interest in Virtual Reality. The development of a VR Theatre 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, on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio on the Lido, judged by an International Jury. The online accessibility of Venice VR Expanded over two editions (2020 and 2021) represented a new commitment and a new challenge to guarantee that the Venice International Film Festival would continue to offer the experience of this new art form, even in times of required social distancing. In 2022 the section, renamed Venice Immersive, returned in person to the island. Since the very first years, the section has been recognised as a unique event in the field and the most significant annual exhibition of immersive arts and media.

Accredited visitors to the Venice Film Festival will have access to all the titles in the line-up. There is also a dedicated Venice Immersive Accreditation reserved to people over 18 years of age that grants access to the projects of the section and is available in three formats:

2-DAY Venice Immersive Accreditation (€ 40): valid for 2 days
5-DAY Venice Immersive Accreditation (€ 60): valid for 5 days
11-DAY Venice Immersive Accreditation (€100): valid from 27th August to 6th September.

Information regarding accreditation for Venice Immersive is available on labiennale.org.

The members of the international Jury of Venice Immersive are:

Eliza McNitt - President: (USA) McNitt is a writer and director. A pioneer of fusing storytelling and emerging technology, she is an Emmy Awards Finalist and recipient of the Best VR Award (Immersive Story) at Venice International Film Festival. From astronauts to astrophysics, McNitt explores the cosmic collision of science and art. She is the creator of Spheres, a VR journey through the hidden songs of the universe, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and starring Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith. Spheres made history as the first VR acquisition out of Sundance. Her latest short film, Ancestra, is a groundbreaking collaboration with Darren Aronofsky’s newest venture Primordial Soup and Google DeepMind — combining live-action and generative AI to tell a story of an expectant mother who draws on the strength of all that came before—past matriarchs to dying stars—to transform her love into a cosmic force to save her daughter’s life. McNitt’s work has appeared at Sundance, SXSW, AFI Fest, Cannes, CPH: DOX, Tribeca, Telluride, and Venice.

Gwenael François: (France/Luxembourg) François is a director and producer, co-founder of Skill Lab in Luxembourg. He directed film shorts and story driven music videos that blends creativity and technology. Embracing VR, he directed interactive experiences including Errances, a VR trip aboard a futuristic train with synthwave electronic music (Fivars 2023, Siggraph 2024, Bifan 2024) and Oto's Planet an interactive spatial tale that is touring major festivals (Venice Immersive Special Jury Price 2024, Geneva 2024, Webby Awards 2025, Canadian Screen Awards 2025). He’s now developing a new XR experience Tachychronia that deals with the perception of time and the search for love. Collaborating all over the world, he develops his creativity through innovation.

Boris Labbé: (France) Trained at the École supérieure d'art de Tarbes and the École de cinéma d'animation d'Angoulême, the work of Boris Labbé (1987, FR) quickly made its way around the world, whether at contemporary art exhibitions, international film festivals or audiovisual concerts. His latest short film La Chute was selected for the Special Screening at the Critics' Week of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. In 2020 he collaborated with the choreographer Angelin Preljocaj and signed the video scenography of the show Swan Lake. His films and video installations have earned him some seventy awards and distinctions around the world, including the Golden Nica Animation at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz and the Grand Prix at the Japan Media Arts Festival in Tokyo. Between 2023 and 2024, he developed and directed two landmark projects: Ito Meikyū, his first virtual reality project (produced by Sacrebleu Productions and Les Films Fauves) and Glass House, a video scenography in collaboration with composer Lucas Fagin (produced by the Ensemble Cairn). In 2024 Ito Meikyū was awarded the Venice Immersive Grand Prize at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

The 2025 Venice Immersive Jury will award the following prizes:
Venice Immersive Grand Prize
Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize

LA MAGIE OPÉRA
by JONATHAN ASTRUC
France / 25’ / installation, virtual reality

1968
by ROSE BOND
USA / 9’ / installation, virtual reality

LA TRISTE HISTOIRE DE LA PETITE SOURIS QUI VOULAIT ABSOLUMENT DEVENIR QUELQU’UN (THE SAD STORY OF THE LITTLE MOUSE WHO WANTED TO BECOME SOMEBODY)
by NICOLAS BOURNIQUEL
France, Germany, Belgium / 30’ / virtual reality

CREATION OF THE WORLDS
by KRISTINA BUOŽYTĖ, VITALIJUS ŽUKAS
Lithuania / 28’ / virtual reality

FACE JUMPING
by DANNY CANNIZZARO, SAMANTHA GORMAN
USA / 25’ / virtual reality

JEONYEOK 8SI WA GOYANGI (8PM AND THE CAT)
by MINHYUK CHE
South Korea / 14’ / virtual reality

THE CLOUDS ARE TWO THOUSAND METERS UP
by SINGING CHEN
Taipei, Germany / 50’ / installation, virtual reality

DARK ROOMS
by MADS DAMSBO, LAURITS FLENSTED JENSEN, ANNE SOFIE STEEN SVERDRUP
Denmark, Germany, Taipei / 35’ / installation, virtual reality

THE GREAT ORATOR
by DANIEL ERNST
The Netherlands / 40’ / virtual reality

HEARTBEAT – SON CŒUR A TROUVÉ SA CADENCE DANS LE SILENCE DES RENCONTRES
by FANNY FORTAGE
France / 10’ / immersive installation

THE BIG CUBE
by MENGHUI HUANG
Finland, Belgium, China, Portugal / 7’ / virtual reality

MIRAGE
by NAIMA KARIM, ALEENA HANIF
Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina / 8’ / virtual reality, haptics

REFLECTIONS OF LITTLE RED DOT
by CHLOÉ LEE
Germany, USA / 40’ / installation, mixed reality

L'OMBRE (THE SHADOW)
by BLANCA LI, EDITH CANAT DE CHIZY
France, Taipei / 60’ / installation, mixed reality, live performance

ASTEROID
by DOUG LIMAN
USA, Canada / 30’ / installation, virtual reality

THE TIME BEFORE
by LEO METCALF, MICHAEL GOLEMBEWSKI
UK / 15’ / virtual reality

DANSE DANSE DANSE – MATISSE (DANCE DANCE DANCE – MATISSE)
by AGNÈS MOLIA, GORDON
France / 10’ / virtual reality

LESS THAN 5GR OF SAFFRON
by NÉGAR MOTEVALYMEIDANSHAH
France / 7’ / virtual reality

EMPATHY CREATURES
by MÉLODIE MOUSSET
Switzerland / 10’ / installation, virtual reality

LA FILLE QUI EXPLOSE VR (THE EXPLODING GIRL VR)
by CAROLINE POGGI, JONATHAN VINEL
France, Greece / 20’ / virtual reality

BLUR
by CRAIG QUINTERO, PHOEBE GREENBERG
Canada, Taipei / 50’ / installation, virtual reality, live performance

BLACK CATS & CHEQUERED FLAGS
by ELISABETTA ROTOLO, SIOBHAN MCDONNELL
Italy / 20’ / installation, mixed reality, virtual reality

EDDIE AND I
by MAYA SHEKEL
Israel, Germany, France / 25’ / virtual reality

COLLECTIVE BODY
by SARAH SILVERBLATT-BUSER
France, USA / 20’ / installation, virtual reality

ALIEN PERSPECTIVE
by JUNG AH SUH, CRISTINA RAMBALDI
USA, Italy / 15’ / installation, virtual reality

THE GREAT ESCAPE
by JOREN VANDENBROUCKE
Belgium, Luxembourg / 20’ / virtual reality

A LONG GOODBYE
by KATE VOET, VICTOR MAES
Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands / 35’ / installation, virtual reality

IF YOU SEE A CAT
by ATSUSHI WADA
Japan / 37’ / virtual reality

MULAN2125
by MO HUANG
China / 56’ / virtual reality

SENSE OF NOWHERE
by HSIN-HSUAN YEH
Taipei, Finland, Belgium, Portugal, France / 30’ / virtual reality

RI-LANCIA LUIGI BROGLIO (RE-LAUNCHING LUIGI BROGLIO)
by VINCENZO CAVALLO
Italy / 33’ / installation, virtual reality
Supported by the grant BCC Immersive 9th edition (2024/2025)

OUT OF NOWHERE
by KRIS HOFMANN, ANDREAS WUTHE
Austria, Germany / 10’ / virtual reality

HAPPY SHADOW
by PEI-YING LIN, TING-RUEI SU
Taipei / 25’ / installation, virtual reality

MNEMOSYNE
by WUER
China / 35’ / installation, virtual reality

FIRST VIRTUAL SUIT
by KAZUKI YUHARA
Japan / 35’ / installation, virtual reality

The 4^th edition of the Venice Immersive Market (28^th August – 3^rd September), a part of the Venice Production Bridge, will take place on the Venice Immersive Island (Lazzaretto Vecchio).

The Venice Immersive Market is gathering all the Venice Production Bridge Immersive activities during the Venice International Film Festival. These activities include: the presentation of immersive projects of both the Venice Gap-Financing Market and the Biennale College Cinema Immersive through 1-to-1 meetings; panels and networking events dedicated to immersive topics; an Exhibition Area for Institutions, public and private funds, the manufacturers, the VR production, distribution and sales companies, public and private funds supporting VR/XR/AR, VFX and post-production companies that are connected to Immersive content.

The Venice Immersive Island will also host an array of social events, including Venice Production Bridge Panels and Cocktails. It will also feature international booths, allowing attendees to personally experience titles and projects, meet with representatives of supporting firms, and engage with their various services.

In the Spazio Incontri Immersivo there will be, from 28^th August to 3^rd September, panel discussions and activities dedicated to the world of XR – Extended Reality.

In 2025 the VPB Focuses will be the United Kingdom, supported by British Film Institute; Chile, supported by Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio, Gobierno de Chile; and Morocco, supported by Centre Cinématographique Marocain.

The Island will also be the place where teams (producer and creator) of the Immersive projects selected for the Venice Gap-Financing Market will gather (29^th August – 31^st August):

14 IMMERSIVE PROJECTS:
14 Immersive projects (11 from Europe and 3 from around the world), including fiction, documentary, animation and other interactive installation-based experiences, including 3 projects coming from the VPB Focus on the United Kingdom. All projects have secured 30% of their budget and have this financing in place. These 14 projects will deliver a live pitch at the Spazio Incontri Immersivo on the morning of the 29^th August.

10 BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA - IMMERSIVE PROJECTS:
10 projects, that have been developed during the workshop of Biennale College Cinema Immersive, ninth edition, and that have reached different stages of development, pre-production and post-production. The full list of the selected projects of the Venice Gap-Financing Market is available on our website.

(veniceproductionbridge.org/news/venice-gap-financing-market-2025-selected-projects)

Registered delegates with Industry Gold or Trade accreditations will be entitled to request meetings with the selected projects through our website (veniceproductionbridge.org) in the dedicated area to the VGFM.

The Venice Immersive Market will be the place where institutions, professionals, production, post-production and distribution companies, public and private funds linked to the Immersive world will convene.