For the Kaohsiung Film Festival 2024, the French Office in Taipei (official website) has teamed up with XRMust to cover this year’s French XR delegation. With a strong presence both in Competition and on the industry side, French creators and producers are showcasing real know-how in digital and immersive filmmaking. And often, through international co-production mechanisms. Mirror games between the two territories, the support and hosting arrangements for artists (Villa Formose) and an ever-renewed synergy.
With Ana Villa (Attachée audiovisuelle, Bureau francais de Taipei), Oriane Hurard (producer, Atlas V) and Kuan-Jen Wang (programmer, Kaohsiung Film Archive).
Introduction(s)
Ana Villa – The Bureau Francais in Taipei, the French office in Taipei that we called BFT, represents France in Taiwan. We focus on fostering economic, cultural and scientific exchanges between the two regions. Of course, it promotes French businesses and trade, supports cultural collaboration in arts and technology and encourages academic and scientific partnerships. But mainly, the BFT plays a key role in connecting the French and Taiwanese cultural industries.
Ana Villa – This year we’re glad to have a French Focus at the XR Dreamland section of the Kaohsiung Film Festival. This initiative highlights French talent and producers through their immersive works. It showcases, of course, French leadership in the field of virtual reality, augmented reality and other immersive technologies, but it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the Taiwan and French collaboration that has been really highly successful in recent years.
Kuan-Jen Wang – This year the Kaohsiung Film Festival is collaborating with the Technology and Culture Expo, organized by our Ministry of Culture and also the Kaohsiung City Government. We, as Kaohsiung Film Archive in southern Taiwan, are happy to face and invite all the international delegates from immersive industry – and also from our local creators – during our event at Pier 2 Art Centre. Our programme this year will be composed by several sections. The first one is VR Film Lab Originals, which Taiwenese productions such as MADAME PIRATE (chapters 1 and 2) or A SIMPLE SILENCE, and three prototype titles. The second section will be the XR Competition, this year with 22 titles. 8 of them is 360 video, and 14 of them is interactive works. The third section is XR Spotlight, with 6 experiences – including from France, ASTRA, DEEP ECOLOGY and MONSIEUR VINCENT.
Kuan-Jen Wang – Other programs include XR Special Project, including a special presentation from Villa Formose’s immersive residence with PIETRA, DREAMED CITY by Josephine Derobe. This year we invite more than 45 delegates internationally, including our industry days, including panels and mentorship, creative night events.
Oriane Hurard – Atlas V is a French production company created in 2017 by 4 pioneers in virtual reality. The company is dedicated to immersive content with a very strong focus on narrative, that you may have seen from the festivals circuit or in stores: BATTLESCAR, GLOOMY EYES, SPHERES, AYAHUASCA and so on. We worked with different broadcasters and some headsets manufacturers directly, but also we produce a lot of these projects using co-production funds and cooperation with territories. More recents production include MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SILVER PHANTOM with Bandai Namco Filmworks INC. and Meta, EMPEROR by Marion Burger and Ilan J. Cohen, ASTRA by Eliza McNitt
Oriane Hurard – And from December 2023 to July 2024, in France, we produced our first immersive exhibition, LOADING. It was dedicated to the history and the representation of street art, in collaboration with Grand Palais Immersif. And finally, we just finished THE EXPLODING GIRL by indie directors Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, which is a short film made within the Unreal Engine. It premiered this summer at the Locarno Film Festival and will be released on Arte in 2025.
Two of the best creative ecosystem worldwide?
Oriane Hurard – The market is still dominated by the United States, both in terms of capital and users. Every time we launch an in-store experience, the majority of users come from the United States. We can’t ignore them when we design a project. Of course, we have to think about an international audience, wether is is our work with festivals and entertainment venues, where a lot of our work is shown, or our online distribution with Astrea.
Oriane Hurard – We’ve been lucky enough to benefit from the co-production ecosystem in France and Taiwan, notably with the international co-production fund between these two countries. The most striking project is MISSING PICTURES, a co-production between five countries: France, the UK, Luxembourg, South Korea and Taiwan. Each episode, dedicated to a director and an unfinished film, was produced in a single territory, allowing greater independence and flexibility. For example, the Taiwanese episode with Tsai Ming-liang, produced with Serendipity Film, has a distinctive watercolor visual style.
France and Taiwan from a curator point of view
Kuan-Jen Wang – Since 2019, we’ve allowed creators to submit their XR experiences to the Kaohsiung Film Festival’s competition program, which initially only featured short films. For example, this year, five French or French co-production titles are in the competition. This wasn’t something we actively pushed for, but it happened naturally due to the cultural exchange between Taiwan and France. Taiwan’s creators come from diverse backgrounds – film, TV, theater, visual arts, and even gaming – bringing different perspectives and creativity.
Kuan-Jen Wang – We also see a growing need for international collaborations, especially for projects on specific subjects. By working together, we can make these projects more diverse and accessible. In Taiwan, live-action and real-actor directing have been explored earlier, but in recent years there’s a push to develop interactive, multiplayer, and room-scale explorations. This is an area where we can collaborate with French companies. At this year’s Kaohsiung Film Festival, we hosted events highlighting this, as several French studios specialize in developing these interactive experiences. We aim to continue fostering collaboration, including exchanging ideas, funding, and support – as we did with NOIRE (COLORED) per example.
Ana Villa – From an institutional perspective, France has been exploring XR technology since 2016 and was a pioneer in the industry, much like Taiwan, with creators coming from cinema, TV, and documentaries. What helped France’s ecosystem was the strong public support, particularly from broadcasters like France Télévisions Story Lab and ARTE. Similarly, Taiwan has quickly emerged as a major player in XR, also building its ecosystem with public backing and international collaboration. We’ve been fortunate to be chosen as one of their partners.
Ana Villa – A key moment in the Taiwan-France XR relationship was the launch of TAICCA in 2019, which manages an XR fund that supports international projects. This, along with Taiwan’s XR strategy and policies, has made collaboration between the two countries easier, given the similarities in how the industries are structured. The Kaohsiung Film Festival is also becoming a major XR hub in Asia, known internationally, which further boosts Taiwan’s presence in the XR scene. Since the TAICCA XR fund began, more than 10 French-supported projects have emerged, many also receiving backing from the CNC in France. These projects have been selected and awarded at top festivals like Venice, Kaohsiung, and Cannes, showing the strength of the Taiwan-France collaboration.
About creative residency, and Villa Formose
Ana Villa – Regarding Villa Formose, the BFT in Taipei has been running residency programs for 5 years, recently rebranded under this name. These residencies aim to foster cultural exchanges and collaborations between Taiwanese and French artists. Supporting creators early in their process, beyond financial aid, enriches the creation itself. We’ve also worked with partners like Le Centquatre and the Kaohsiung Film Festival to select Taiwanese projects for residencies in France, with successful outcomes seen in projects that later go on to international festivals.
Kuan-Jen Wang – Since the start of the VR Film Lab in 2018, we’ve prioritized residency as a core part of our mission. Residency isn’t just about the time an artist spends in one place, but also involves subject matter, field research, and technical collaboration. Institutional support plays a vital role in this. Each year, we’re happy to welcome artists to Kaohsiung, learning from them while also providing advice based on our experience with curating regular programs and understanding audience and market needs.
Kuan-Jen Wang – Even though we only accompany residency creators through specific stages, we’ve seen many projects continue to grow and even gain awards or recognition later on. It’s a collaborative process, not just about selecting projects but also evaluating them and adjusting criteria each year. In the early days, most projects were in the 360 format, but as the landscape has evolved, we’ve been able to assess projects at their early phases. We aren’t just a film archive; we have multiple missions when running the festival and the archive. Though it’s demanding and resource-intensive, we continue to secure support for residency projects.
Oriane Hurard – It’s not a priority each time, but residency programs are definitely helpful. The most crucial aspect of creation and international cooperation is time – time to create, write, and also to meet and talk with others. That’s why festivals, focus events, and gatherings are so important. I recently returned from an international residency in Luxembourg with the European Creators Lab, where both creators and producers worked together for a week on pitching and presenting projects. It was incredibly valuable, and having producers involved is key.
Oriane Hurard – XR creators, in particular, are often isolated and working in a financially fragile industry with a still-developing audience. They need support, and in France, we’re fortunate to have writing grants and incentives, with residencies being a big part of that. Villa Formosa, for example, provides not just a place to stay but also financial support, including a prize for prototype residencies. These resources are essential, and Villa Formosa has become one of the most powerful tools for project creation.
Ana Villa – To add, while Villa Formosa provides creators with the time to think, write, and work on their projects, there’s also a strong business aspect. We prepare them, along with TAICCA and the Kaohsiung Film Festival, to meet major players in the XR industry in Taiwan, which can lead to new collaborations or finding co-producers. For instance, last year several projects gained Taiwanese producers and were able to apply for the Ministry of Culture grant in Taiwan, which is relatively new, as well as the CNC for prototyping.
Ana Villa – Sometimes residencies are seen as artists simply spending time abroad, but it’s much more than that – it’s real work. Of course, it’s time to create and find inspiration from their surroundings, but it’s also very business-focused, helping creators secure funding and co-producers to move their projects forward.
Around the 2024 market at Kaohsiung Film Festival
Kuan-Jen Wang – The industry week at the festival will run from October 17th to 20th. There will be 20 panels covering four main topics. The first is exploring reality through virtual reality, focusing on documentary XR and VR, where creators are finding new formats for storytelling. The second panel topic is character development and animation production, highlighting the importance of animation in storytelling. The third is about how XR reveals inner worlds, diving deeper into character-driven narratives. The final topic is the shift from flat narratives to spatial experiences, with discussions on large-scale projects like BEAR MY SOUL by Josephine Derobe (Small Creative) and TRAVERSING THE MIST by Taiwanese director Tung-yen Chou (Very Theatre).
Kuan-Jen Wang – Additionally, we’ve organized mentorship opportunities, bringing in 9 international mentors from the XR world, including representatives from Venice Immersive and NewImages. They’ll provide guidance to selected Taiwanese teams from the Taiwan Content Immersive project. In the French Focus, we’ll also feature immersive studios such as Atlas V, Lucid Realities, and others, who will present their workflows and discuss distribution on an international scale. Finally, creators from the Villa Formose residency program will present their ongoing projects, offering insights into their creative processes and development stages.
Kaohsiung Film Festival 2024 – A line-up
XR DREAMLAND COMPETITION
- 8 BILLION SELVES – Tibor DE JONG
- ADDRESS UNKNOWN: FUKUSHIMA NOW – Arif KHAN
- FLY TO YOU – Song Youngyun, Lee Sngmoo
- HEARTBEAT – Dee HARVEY
- ONCE UPON… MY STORY! – Francis GÉLINAS
- OVER THE RAINBOW – Craig QUINTERO
- ROMANCECAR – Jonathan HAGARD
- SOMEWHERE UNKNOWN IN INDOCHINA – Asio LIU Chihsiung, Feng Ting TSOU
- ALL I KNOW ABOUT TEACHER LI – Zhuzmo
- BEAR MY SOUL – Joséphine DEROBE
- DRAW FOR CHANGE! WE EXIST, WE RESIST – Mariana CADENAS SANGRONIS
- EMPEROR – Marion BURGER, Ilan J. COHEN (read our interview)
- FINALLY ME – Marcio SAL
- FRAGILE HOME – Ondrej MORAVEC, Victoria LOPUKHINA (read our interview)
- HUMAN VIOLINS PRELUDE – Ioana MISCHIE (read our interview)
- JFK MEMENTO – Chloé ROCHEREUIL (read our interview)
- MAYA: THE BIRTH OF A SUPERHERO – Poulomi BASU CJ CLARKE
- ORIGEN – Emilia SÁNCHEZ CHIQUETTI
- OTO’S PLANET – Gwenael FRANÇOIS (read our interview)
- SHADOWTIME – Sister SYLVESTER, Deniz TORTUM
- SOUL PAINT – Sarah TICHO, Niki SMIT
- TRAVERSING THE MIST – CHOU Tung Yen (read our interview)
KAOHSIUNG VR FILM LAB ORIGINALS
- A SIMPLE SILENCE, Craig QUINTERO
- MADAME PIRATE：BECOMING A LEGEND, MADAME PIRATE：CODE OF CONDUCT, HUANG Dan-chi , Morgan OMMER
- BABY FROG, KAO Yi-chun
- INTO THE MOUNTAIN, LIN I-chin , HUANG Wei-hsuan
- THE ISLAND OF SHELLS, CHANG Hao-yuan , WEI Shiue-ying , KO Chia-wen
XR SPOTLIGHT
- SONGS FOR A PASSERBY, Celine DAEMEN
- GARGOYLE DOYLE, Ethan SHAFTEL
- VAN GOGH’S PALETTE, Agnès MOLIA , Gordon
- ASTRA, Eliza McNitt
- DEEP ECOLOGY, u2p050
- SEN, Keisuke ITOH
XR TAIWAN WAVE
- SENSING MIRROR, LIN Pei-ying
- BLACK WINGS, LAI Kuan-yuan
- SILIQ, LU Te-hsing / HYPER CURRENT
- THE VANISHED PRISONER OF WAR CAMP, SUN Chieh-Heng
- KST TRACK TO SLEEPING MOON IMMERSIVE MUSIC THEATER, Moondream Reality, FREES
- THE YEAR OF THE TIGER：FANTASTIC FLESH 2.0, FREES
Villa Formose Immersive XR Prototype Residency: PIETRA, DREAMED CITY, Joséphine DEROBE , Côme JALIBERT
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