“Latin-American XR creators explore new models of development despite the lack of financing”

The annual Newimages Festival in Paris dedicated this year one of the sections to the Latin-American XR industry. Damián Kirzner, Founder and Director of Mediamorfosis, and Catalina Alarcón Reyes, Director and Producer of the Chilian sociocultural project VOLVER A CASA, told guests about the evolution and struggles of the market in the LATAM region.

What is Mediamorfosis?

Mediamorfosis is an organization that seeks to promote, educate, and support Latin-American XR talents, with 24 editions in 9 countries of the region, since 2014. Its program includes hosting workshops, hackathons, and other events that provide hands-on experience with immersive tools and techniques. The lab is also involved in advocacy work, promoting the use of technologies to drive social and economic development in the rapidly evolving region. By fostering collaboration, innovation, and education, Mediamorfosis helps to shape the future of the XR industry.

Creators explore different narrative systems. Besides animations or films in XR, they develop mixed reality games with location-based monetization models. For instance, EGGSCAPE of the Argentinian studio 3dar and YUKI created by the Brazilian ARVORE have already received their first franchise sales not only in their homelands but also in Asia and the US.

Thus, Mediamorfosis’s activity extends beyond the LATAM region. This organization has agreements with recognized festivals like NewImages in Paris, Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan, and International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Damián Kirzner says that despite the growing interest from international partners, the Latino-American XR industry suffers from the lack of financing. Because of the unstable economy and politics, and changing policies, cultural organizations can barely count on governments.

Power of international co-productions

Damián Kirzner says that the extremely limited financial resources and small market sizes push the Latino-American industry to search for international co-productions. For example, creators from Mediamorfosis have been working with France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Morocco, the US, and Taiwan.

One of the most well-known projects is a VR trilogy GLOOMY EYES, directed by Jorge Tereso and Fernando Maldonado for the 3dar studio. This is an animation story about the love between a zombie boy and a mortal girl. The aesthetic of the film reminds in some “The Nightmare Before Christmas” written by Tim Burton: dark, magical, and romantic at the same time. GLOOMY EYES was co-produced by the French TV channel ARTE France and the XR studio Atlas V. This film was one of the first big success stories in virtual reality.

One more remarkable VR project of another Argentinian team for the 3dar studio is PAPER BIRDS, which tells the story of a short-sighted child with an exceptional talent for music. Directors Federico Carlini and German Heller made this project in co-production with huge American brands: Baobab Studios and Facebook’s Oculus. With stars like Edward Norton, Joss Stone and Archie Yates, PAPER BIRDS were nominated for Emmy, Tribeca Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, with awards at Stereopsia and Kaohsiung Film Festival. Baobab produced later EGGSCAPE, which was awarded at the Venice Immersive 2022 Competition.

Strong social message

The Latino-American region presents numerous projects covering different social issues. To start with, FROM THE MAIN SQUARE directed by Pedro Harres is a Brazilian-German animation in VR talking about the diversity and the rise and fall of a divided society nowadays. Being just a student project at the beginning, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice VR Expanded in 2022. GRAVITY VR and LAVRYNTHOS by Fabito Rychter and Amir Admoni went through the same festival circuit.

CROSS, taken by the Ecuador crew and its director Juliana Peñaranda-Loftus, mixes different approaches and genres: documentary, 360 videos and journalism. This story is about human mobility and Venezuelan displacement because of the humanitarian and economic crisis. Since 2014, almost 7 million left the country moving to nearby countries, including Ecuador. Due to the United Nations, the exodus of Venezuelans is one of the largest population movements in the history of Latin America.

Another remarkable social project is written and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the first Mexican Oscar winner for the Best Director category. He works in the US on big movies, often referring to the problems of his mother country. His short film in virtual reality CARNE Y ARENA (“Flesh and Sand”) is based on the story of Mexican and Central American refugees crossing the USA border. What is also interesting, “Flesh and Sand” was premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival as part of the official selection and was the first VR piece to ever be projected there.

The Argentinian XR project “4 FEET HIGH” about body diversity and the pride movement was co-produced with France: Marie Blondiaux from Red Corner and ARTE channel. This VR series about a 17-year-old wheelchair user Juana, who tries to find her place in a new high school and aims to explore her sexuality. Director María Belén Poncio has created it in collaboration with the writer and filmmaker Rosario Perazolo Masjoan, who lives with a disability. 4 FEET HIGH was awarded the 2021 Jury Award Winner at the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in the Episodic Pilot Competition.

VOLVER A CASE or GOING BACK HOME

This year, the NewImages Festival in Paris also welcomed the Chilian filmmaker Catalina Alarcón Reyes. Her creation VOLVER A CASA is a cultural organization, which helps prisoners in Chili and Mexico to preserve communication with their homes and families. This project aims to reduce the psychological impact of incarceration and improve the chances of successful reintegration into society.

With 360 degrees cameras, the crew films houses, yards, family members and other close people, and even pets. So, when detainees put on a VR headset, they restore a connection with their lives at liberty. For example, one woman was overwhelmed because of her long-term detention that would not permit her to see her sick grandmother. Thanks to the VOLVER A CASA, the prisoner had an opportunity to see, as it would be in real life, her granny just before her death. Another inspiring history is about a man, who could watch his daughter taking her first steps.

Catalina decided to create this project while watching numerous separated families at her high school. Even if criminal activity in Chile is lower than in other Central and South American countries, it still suffers from problems like drug trafficking, robberies, and domestic violence. Therefore, Catalina, feeling her privilege to study arts and filmmaking, has decided to make an organization that helps relieve separation from incarcerated family members.

This project has been positively received by prisoners and prison staff alike and has been shown to be an effective tool in improving the mental health and well-being of detainees.