Top 100 Creative XR Events, Festivals & Awards (2021 Edition)

Mathieu G.

2020 update: which cultural events select immersive content? Through our XR Agenda (free access, upon registration) we inform you about festivals, conferences, workshops or marketplaces that make the news in the XR creative industry.

While we are going through a troubled period for physical events – with a lot of innovation and reactivity to organize virtual events – here is a list of 100 events to encourage them to organize future editions full of surprises, halfway between their know-how “in reality” and the learning of interactive digital platforms. (2021 edition)

To know more about upcoming events and deadlines submissions

360 Film Festival – SATIS Expo (France)

360 Mercado Realidad Virtual Barcelona – 360VR (Spain)

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) – Creative Emmy Awards (USA)

ACM SIGGRAPH (USA)

Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) (UK)

Almagro International Film Festival (ALIFF) (Spain)

Ambulante Documentary Film Festival (Mexico)

Anifilm (Czech Republic)

Anima – The Brussels Animation Film Festival (Belgium)

Animafest Zagreb – World Festival of Animated Film (Croatia)

Annecy International Animated Film Festival (+ MIFA) (France)

BFI London Film Festival – LFF Expanded (UK)

Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality (Italy)

Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF) (South Korea)

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) (South Korea)

Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) – 부산국제영화제 (South Korea)

Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBFF) (Australia)

Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) (USA)

Chelsea Film Festival (CFF) (UK)

Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival (USA)

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX + CPH:LAB) (Denmark)

Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival (Israel)

Electric Africa (South Africa)

Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival (UK)

European Film Market (EFM) (Germany)

Festival de Cortos de Bogotá (BOGOSHORTS) (Colombia)

Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal (FNC Explore) (Canada)

Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg (FEFFS) (France)

Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS) (Canada)

FilmGate Miami (USA)

FIPADOC Biarritz (France)

Forum NUMIX (previously Forum Xn) (Canada)

Future of Storytelling (USA)

Games for Change (G4C) (USA)

Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) + Geneva Digital Market (GDM) (Switzerland)

Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (The Netherlands)

goEast Film Festival (Germany)

Guanajuato International Film Festival (GIFFMX) (Mexico)

Haifa International Film Festival (Israel)

Hot Docs Festival (Canada)

International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) (The Netherlands)

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) (The Netherlands)

International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (DOK Leipzig) (Germany)

Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (IDFF) (Czech Republic)

Kaboom Animation Festival (Germany)

Kaohsiung Film Festival – 高雄電影節 (Taiwan)

KO:SH Film Festival – Korca International Short Film Festival (Albania)

Landshuter Kurzfilmfestival (Landshut Short Film Festival) (Germany)

L.E.V. (Laboratorio de Electrónica Visual) – L.E.V. Festival (Spain)

Laval Virtual (Recto VRso) (France)

Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) (UK)

Les Ailleurs (previously VR Arles festival) (France)

Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland)

LICHTER Film Festival Frankfurt International (Germany)

Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) (UK)

Marché du Film (Festival de Cannes) – Cannes XR (France)

Montreal Animation Film Festival (Animaze) (Canada)

Movies that Matter Film Festival (MTMF) (The Netherlands)

MUTEK (Canada)

New York Film Festival (NYFF) (USA)

NewImages Festival (France)

North Bend Film Festival (NBFF) (USA)

Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada)

Phi Centre (Canada)

Raindance Film Festival (UK)

River Film Festival (USA)

Sandbox Immersive Festival (砂之盒沉浸影像节) (China)

São Paulo International Film Festival – Mostra Internacional de Cinema (Brazil)

Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival (Germany)

Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) (China)

Sheffield Doc/Fest – Alternate Realities (UK)

SITGES – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Spain)

Social World Film Festival – Mostra internazionale del Cinema Sociale (Italy)

Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) – Atelier Grand Nord XR (Canada)

Stereopsia (Belgium)

Sundance Film Festival – New Frontier (USA)

Sunny Side of the Doc – PiXii Festival (France)

SXSW – South by Southwest (USA)

Tacoma Film Festival (TFF) (USA)

Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節) (Taiwan)

The International Festival of New Film / Split Film Festival (MFNF) (Croatia)

Torino Short Film Market (TSFM) (Italy)

Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) – infiniTIFF (Romania)

Tribeca Film Festival – Tribeca Immersive (USA)

Unity Awards (USA)

Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) – VIFF Immersed (Canada)

Venice International Film Festival – La Biennale di Venezia – Venice VR (Italy)

VERZIO International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (Hungary)

Viborg Animation Festival (VAF) – ANIDOX:VR (Denmark)

View Conference (Italy)

Virtual Reality Experience (VRE FEST) (Italy)

Virtual Worlds (Germany)

VIS Vienna Shorts – Kurzfilmfestival (Austria)

Virtuality Paris (France)

VR Awards (UK)

VR NOW Awards (Germany)

VR/AR Global Summit (USA)

VRCORE Awards (China)

VRDays Europe (The Netherlands)

VRHAM! Virtual Reality & Arts Festival (Germany)

Cover: BODYLESS by Hsin-Chien Huang

@ Dabatase

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