The 26th Raindance Film Festival — taking place in London from September 26 to October 7 — has revealed an artistic and tech-savvy lineup of virtual, augmented and mixed reality projects for its Immersive Stories and Interactive Worlds strand (Oct. 4-7). The program will feature the annual showcase, Gallery of Immersive Stories and Interactive Worlds, Summit and Awards Ceremony. Notably, this year two much-buzzed-about animated VR experiences are nominated for Raindance’s immersive track Grand Jury Prize.
The selection features 33 experiences, created by established directors and artists such as Judi Dench (My Oak Tree VR), Elijah Wood (Transference), Eric Darnell (Crow: The Legend); leading VR directors and Raindance alumni such as Eugene YK Chung (Arden’s Wake: Tide’s Fall), Angel Manuel Soto (Dinner Party), Martin Taylor (Awake: Episode One); first-time VR creators and directors such as Chagall (Ukiyo Cave: Surely), Orly Rodriguez (The Archivist), Maximilian Sacker and Ioulia Isserlis (KOBOLD), Landia Egal and Thomas Pons (Umami), Taylor Myers (King of Infinite Space), Kenneth Henderson and Alyssia Frankland (Opinions), James A. Castillo (Madrid Noir), Kristina Buozyte (Trail of Angels), Bin Gu (The Apple), John Lynch (Crackle Pop), and many more.
Seventeen of these selections will be world premieres, including 7 Miracles. Produced by Vive Studios and created by an acclaimed team of producers and directors — Joel Breton (Pirates of the Caribbean), Enzo Sisti (Aquaman), Rodrigo Cerqueira (Jesus VR: The Story of Christ) and Marco Spagnoli (Hollywood Invasion), the live-action Italian production takes viewers into the biblical story of Jesus.
The Raindance Immersive Stories Awards are given in 10 categories: Interactive Narrative, Animation, Cinematic, Documentary, Social Impact, Music Experience, Multi-Person (new), Discovery Award: Best Debut Experience (new), British Award: Best UK Experience (new), and Grand Jury Prize: Best Immersive Story.
The winners will be selected by an international panel of jury members consisting of industry visionaries such as Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge of ILMxLAB; Curtis Hickman, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at THE VOID; Wesley Allsbrook, the artist behind Dear Angelica, last year’s winner of Best Animation Experience award; Jérôme Blanquet, director of Alteration, last year’s winner of Best Cinematic Experience award; Grace Boyle, founder and director of THE FEELIES, one of last year’s winners of Best Social Impact Experience award, and many more.
The 2018 Best Animation Experience nominees are:
Arden’s Wake: Tide’s Fall (also nominated for Grand Jury Prize)
Crow: The Legend (also nominated for Grand Jury Prize)
Madrid Noir – Prologue
Shennong: Taste of Illusion
Yeti and Spaghetti
