The Cannes Film Festival is just around the corner. You’ll notice that every piece of news about the film industry seems to revolve around ‘Cannes.’ That’s the festival’s hype. And now, Cannes has announced its inaugural lineup for the 2024 Immersive Competition, featuring the first-ever selection of virtual and augmented reality films that will screen at the austere French film fest.
The competition features eight titles, and six additional screenings will be shown outside of the competition. These works include contributions from notable talents like Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Millie Bobby Brown, and Tahar Rahim. The lineup highlights cutting-edge VR and AR techniques and includes location-based virtual reality, mixed reality experiences, projection mapping, and holographic works.
This year’s Cannes is set to bring something new that includes the introduction of a new immersive section. Cannes said it hoped to “spotlight the next generation of international artists who are redefining storytelling and inventing new narrative-driven experiences that move beyond the traditional two-dimensional cinema screen.”
The section, organized with support from the French National Film Board and the CNC, will take place at the Cannes Cineum complex on the outskirts of the city and the campus of Cannes’s Georges Méliès film school.
The best immersive work will be honored at a ceremony on May 23. Meanwhile, the immersive sidebar will run May 15-24 alongside the 2024 Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).
2024 Immersive Competition Lineup
Immersive Competition
En Amour (France): Directed by Claire Bardainne, Adrien Mondot, Laurent Bardainne.
Starring Claire Bardainne (voice-over), November Ultra (singing voice);
Produced by Adrien M & Claire B, Ekleroshock records
Evolver (UK, France, United States) French Premiere: Directed by Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin, and Robin McNicholas, with Cate Blanchett providing voice-over.
Produced by Marshmallow Laser Feast, Atlas V, Pressman Film, Orange, Bia-Echo Foundation, Dirty Films
Human Violins: Prelude (multi-user version) (Romania, France) World Premiere: Directed by
Ioana Mischie, featuring Cabiria Morgenstern (English Voice); Produced by Storyscapes, Da Prod, Studioset
Maya: The Birth of a Superhero (UK, France, United States) European Premiere: Directed by Poulomi Basu, CJ Clarke, Casting Indira Varma, Kathy Packianathan (French voices), Indira Varma, Charithra Chandran (English voices), Florrie Antoniou (voices); Produced by Just Another Production Company, Floréal, Meta VR for Good, France Télévisions, Francetv Storylab, Meta
Colored (France, Taiwan): Directed by Tania de Montaigne, Stéphane Foenkinos, Pierre-Alain Giraud. Starring Tania de Montaigne, Rebecca Naluyange, Keril Daniel Elombe, Véronique Bailey, Jona Kraft, Sergei Laev, Mbongiseni Kunene, Craig Thomas Crawford, John Harve Jackson, Gwei Lun-Mei (Mandarin voice), Susanna Dimitri (Italian voice); Produced by Novaya, Flash Forward Entertainment, Centre Pompidou
Telos I (Canada, Sweden, Denmark) World Premiere: Directed by Dorotea Saykaly and Emil Dam Seidel, while Saykaly also provides the voice-over; Produced by Dorotea Saykaly, Emil Dam Seidel
The Roaming (France, Luxembourg, Canada): Directed by Mathieu Pradat, Starring Axel Beaumont, Pierre Tallaron, Tony Sanial, Mila Pousséo, Chloé Froget, Anne Klein, Marianne Bourg; Produced by La Prairie Productions, Wild Fang Films, Normal Studio, Small Creative
Traversing the Mist (Taiwan): Directed by Tung-Yen Chou, Casting Jing-Yan Lin; Produced by Very Theatre
Immersive Selection (Non-Competitive Works)
Battlescar (France, United States): Directed by Martin Allais, Nico Casavecchia, Casting Dawson (English voice), Jehnny Beth (French voice), Lo Rivera (German voice); Produced by Atlas V, Albyon, 1STAveMachine, ARTE France, Oculus, Ryot
Emperor (France, Germany): Directed by Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen, Casting Olivia Cooke (English voice), Vimala Pons (French voice); Produced by Atlas V, Reynard Films, France Télévisions
Gloomy Eyes (Argentina, France, United States): Directed by Fernando Maldonado, Jorge Tereso, Casting Tahar Rahim (French voice), Colin Farrell (English voice), Max Riemelt (German voice), Jorge Drexler (Spanish voice), Jam Hsiao (Mandarin voice) Produced by Atlas V, 3dar, ARTE France, HTC, Ryot
Missing Pictures: Naomi Kawase (France, UK, Taiwan, Luxembourg, South Korea): Directed by Clément Deneux, Casting Naomi Kawase; Produced by Atlas V, ARTE France, BBC, PTS, Serendipity Films, Wild Fang Films, Giioii
Notes on Blindness(France, UK): Directed by Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Casting John Hull (English version), Lambert Wilson (French version); Produced by Ex Nihilo, ARTE France, Archer’s Mark, Novelab
Spheres (United States, France): Directed by Eliza McNitt, Casting Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown, and Patti Smith; Produced by Protozoa Pictures, City Lights, Crime of Curiosity, Atlas V
