The selection of projects for Venice Immersive, the XR – Extended Reality section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (27th August – 6th 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.
Cover: BLUR by CRAIG QUINTERO, PHOEBE GREENBERG
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 VR Chat.
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 VR Chat 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 withinthe 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 uniqueevent 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-DAYS Venice Immersive Accreditation (€ 40): valid for 2 days
- 5-DAYS Venice Immersive Accreditation (€ 60): valid for 5 days
- 11-DAYS Venice Immersive Accreditation (€100): valid from 27th August to 6th September.
Information regarding accreditation for Venice Immersive is available on the official website.
International Jury and Awards of Venice Immersive
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 afuturistic train with synthwave electronic music (Fivars 2023, Siggraph 2024, Bifan 2024) and Oto’sPlanet an interactive spatial tale that is touring major festivals (Venice Immersive Special Jury Price 2024, Geneva 2024, Webby Awards 2025, Canadian Screen Awards2025). 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 anddirected two landmark projects: ItoMeikyū, 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
Venice Immersive In Competition
- 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, 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 (see our previous interview)
Germany, USA / 40’ / installation, mixed reality - L’OMBRE (THE SHADOW) by BLANCA LI, EDITH CANAT DE CHIZY (see our previous interview)
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
Out of Competition – Best of Experiences
International selection of the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival.
- WALL TOWN WONDERS by IVES AGEMANS
Belgium / 30’ / mixed reality - ONE TRUE PATH, PART 1 By BALTHAZAR AUXIETRE (see our previous interview)
France/ 90’ / virtual reality - SUBMERGED By EDWARD BERGER FOR APPLE
USA/ 17’ / immersive film - GHOST TOWN by FIREPROOF GAMES
UK / 300’ / virtual reality - ADVENTURE: ICE DIVE by CHARLOTTE MIKKELBORG FOR APPLE AND ATLANTIC STUDIOS
USA, Iceland / 15’ / immersive film - ANCESTORS by STEYE HALLEMA
The Netherlands / 70’ / immersive installation - LILI by NAVID KHONSARI, VASSILIKI KHONSARI
USA, UK, France / 30’ / immersive installation - ON THE OTHER EARTH by WAYNE MCGREGOR
UK / 50’ / immersive installation, mixed reality - THE MIDNIGHT WALK by OLOV REDMALM, KLAUS LYNGELED
Sweden, Brazil, India / 360’ / virtual reality - D-DAY: THE CAMERA SOLDIER by CHLOÉ ROCHEREUIL
France, USA / 22’ / virtual reality - CONSTANTINOPOLIAD by SISTER SYLVESTER, NADAH EL SHAZLY
UK, Greece / 55’ / immersive installation
Out of Competition – Best of Worlds
- NATURA’S QUEENDOM by Anders Fray, Starheart
- CYBERLOVE ｜ A7 by Artsy Glitch
- UNCANNY LOUNGE by Christopher Lane Davis, Rick Treweek
- RITUAL by DrMorro
- THE COLONY – FLAT 804 by Glory Nya
- EXHIBITION ⁄ BACK SEEING by haruki_haru
- WHAT IS VIRTUAL ART – VOLUME 1 by Jessien
- THE REALITY OF HOPE by Joe Hunting
- NEURON by Juice…
- YORUTOUGE by mikkabouzu / Kikuo
- FLAT EARTH by Niko Lang
- EXPERIENCE by NOOTAU
- POWDERGAME by Pema Malling
- LIGHT AQUARIUM by phi16
- BREAK 15˸ ARCANUM by PK / rekluma
- VENT. by Premium²
- FZMZ POINT ZERO by ReeeznD
- SCALE JOURNEY by S_Asagiri
- SHINONOME BALLOON – by sakanaplus
- DRACULA’S CASTLE by Tanner White
- MIRAGE by TOKYO WAIYOZ
- NEOWORLDS by Widget365
- FLASHING WARNING by xlxxl
Biennale College Cinema – Immersive
Out of Competition
- 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
Japan, China / 35’ / installation, virtual reality - FIRST VIRTUAL SUIT by KAZUKI YUHARA
Japan / 35’ / installation, virtual reality
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