Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are finding new ways to enhance our ability to perceive the world that surrounds us, and in many instances they are redefining how we experience the world. The 38 projects presented in the new SXSW Virtual Cinema emphasize storytelling, ingenuity and also showcase how other industries are embracing this new medium.
After Solitary
Directors: Cassandra Herrman, Lauren Mucciolo
After Solitary, a collaboration between Emblematic and FRONTLINE, allows viewers to experience interactively the story of 38-year-old Kenny Moore, a recently released inmate who spent 5½ years straight in solitary confinement. (World Premiere)
Amor de Abuela (A Grandmother’s Love) (Australia, Guatemala, USA)
Director: Jessie Hughes
A Guatemalan family’s life is transformed when their grandmother gains access to electricity and light. (World Premiere)
BattleScar (Spain, USA)
Directors/Screenwriters: Nico Casavecchia, Martin Allais
BattleScar is a linear short film with interactive components that follows a year in the life of Lupe, a Puerto Rican-American, living in the 1978 Punk rock scene of New York City.
Behind The Fence
Directors: Lindsay Branham, Jonathan Olinger
The Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar must survive a Buddhist-led campaign to eliminate them. (World Premiere)
Chocolate
Director: Tyler Hurd
Cats, champagne and joy overflows in Chocolate, a psychedelic VR Music video experience set in a chrome cat-centric world, for the song Chocolate by Giraffage. By acclaimed VR creator Tyler Hurd. Presented by Viacom NEXT.
Cycling Pathways to Mars
Directors: Lex Halaby, Daniel Schechter, Guil Rambelli , Screenwriters: Buzz Aldrin, Andy Aldrin, Lex Halaby, Christina Korp
Buzz Aldrin’s Cycling Pathways to Mars is a volumetric VR experience that takes you on a journey from the moon to Mars with Aldrin’s hologram as your guide, and brings his vision of cyclers, landers and rovers, to life. (World Premiere)
Dear Pigeon Man (Netherlands)
Director/Screenwriter: Daniël Ernst
Dear Pigeon Man is a hand painted virtual reality experience. It is the fifth piece of the Shoebox Dioramas, a series of virtual stories. All the stories in the series overlap, as the series grows so will the world of the Shoebox Dioramas.
DeathTolls Experience (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Director/Screenwriter: Ali Eslami
A virtual journey from the refugee crisis in Europe to the bloodbath in Syria, placing the dry “data reality” of the news in an emotional perspective. (U.S. Premiere)
Decay Theory (UK)
Director/Screenwriter: Nick Pittom
Decay Theory is an Episodic Sci-Fi Storytelling Experience, that follows the intergalactic adventures of SuRei, a young girl and FeiMa, the bio-mechanical horror that protects her.
Dreams of “O” (Canada)
Directors: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël, Screenwriters: Francois Blouin, Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël
Dive into the hypnotic world of Dreams of ‘’O’’. Submerge yourself into a virtual reality universe comprised of aerial acrobatics, daring dives, and the surreal amphibious characters of the breathtaking aquatic masterpiece “O” by Cirque du Soleil.
Fistful of Stars
Director/Screenwriter: Eliza McNitt
Fistful of Stars is the world’s first Virtual Reality exploration of the cosmos alongside the Hubble Telescope that transports you inside of the Orion Nebula and reveals the cosmic connections between humans and the stars. (World Premiere)
The Giant
Director: New Media Ltd, Screenwriter: Mike Anderson
A tale of a girl who never stops growing, her destructive plight, and ultimate transcendence. (World Premiere)
In Harmony
Director: Elliot Dillman, Screenwriters: Chris Collins, Elliot Dillman
For some LA kids, music is not just a form of art, it’s the key to overcoming the odds. When Deonte and Amy’s high schools cut their music programs, The Harmony Project steps in with mentoring and music training. (World Premiere)
Life of Us
Directors: Chris Milk, Aaron Koblin
Life of Us is a shared VR journey from within that tells the complete story of the evolution of life on Earth. Created by Chris Milk & Aaron Koblin, with music by Pharrell Williams.
Mars 2030
In partnership with NASA and MIT’s Space Systems Laboratory, FusionVR welcomes you to Mars 2030. This immersive experience lets you play the role of one of the first scientists tasked with establishing a human presence on the Red Planet. (World Premiere)
The Melody of Dust
Directors: Viacom NEXT, Hot Sugar
A musical journey for the HTC Vive. Explore a mysterious world where every object contains a unique melody. From Viacom NEXT and musician Hot Sugar, this experience brings you inside the fantasies of a romantic composer. (World Premiere)
Movements
Directors: Michael Catalano, Elliot Cole
Movements is an interactive experience for virtual reality that gives you the thrill of conducting a live orchestra.
Museum of the Impossible
Directors: Ben Vance, Kate Parsons
Museum of The Impossible (MOTI) is a new type of museum for virtual reality that curates the best in immersive art.
Next Nature Habitat VR (Netherlands)
Director: Koert van Mensvoort
The natural habitat of the polar bear is the Arctic. The natural habitat of the scorpion is the dessert. How about humans? What is our natural habitat? As a species, we need to discover what it means to live in a world where the born and the made are (North American Premiere)
Notes to My Father (India, UK, USA)
Director/Screenwriter: Jayisha Patel
Notes To My Father is a story of love, grief, and reconciliation, between father and daughter. (World Premiere)
Out of the Blue
Director/Screenwriter: Sophie Ansel
A family of fishermen in Mexico sacrifice their livelihood to save open ocean sea life from extinction. Narration by Sylvia Earle. (World Premiere)
Playthings VR
Director: George Michael Brower
Playthings puts virtual drumsticks in your hands and sets you loose on a musical playground from another world.
Reinvent
Directors: Ian Forester, Sook-Lei Liew, Phd
VR Playhouse has partnered with neuroscientist Dr. Sook-Lei Liew and her team at USC’s Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Lab to create content for Reinvent, a new method that uses VR to promote motor recovery for victims of severe strokes. (World Premiere)
Rise Above
Director: Ben Ross
One girl’s journey of empowerment as she confronts and overcomes abuse. (World Premiere)
See Beyond Labels
Director: Sarah Hill, Screenwriter: StoryUP Studios
An examination of bias through the stories of six people who are often seen through societal filters. (World Premiere)
Show It 2 Me
Directors: Mark Brooks, Dylan Carter
An interactive music video created using Tilt Brush’s audio reactive brushes featuring Night Club’s single, “Show It 2 Me.” (World Premiere)
Spatium (UK)
Directors/Screenwriters: Roland Lane, Alex Lambert
INITION and Roland Lane take you on a journey inspired by a famous hat by legendary designer Philip Treacy. In VR, structure and form are explored on a scale that escapes the bounds of the physical, creating a fantasy of light, sound and shadow. (World Premiere)
Square the Circle (Netherlands)
Directors: Harm van de Ven, Sara Kolster
Square the Circle is an interactive experience which explores the possibilities of interacting with Touch controllers in room scale.
Synesthesia (Netherlands, USA)
Director: Kaleidoscope VR
Synesthesia is an interactive experience comprised of six movements each inspired by a different stage of life.
Use Your Imagination
Director: Roberto Drilea, Screenwriters: Roberto Drilea, Garth Herberg, Jason Weissbrod
A VR musical written and performed by young artists on the autism spectrum. (World Premiere)
Vestige (UK)
Director: Aaron Bradbury
Vestige is a journey into the mind of a man who lost his lover in a car accident.
Vibrant Matter
Director: FLOAT
A Within Original Experience, Vibrant Matter invites you to step inside a new world pulsing with an original score by Toro Y Moi. Twist and play through memories as you explore this new dimension. (World Premiere)
Waba
Director: EDWON
Waba is an interactive video game character, empathic petting simulator, and virtual wobble pet combined into one.
We Who Remain (Sudan, USA)
Directors: Sam Wolson, Trevor Snapp
We Who Remain is an immersive live action documentary that explores life during a brutal fighting season in Sudan’s decades long civil war. (World Premiere)
Women on the Move (Niger, USA)
Director: Shannon Carroll, Screenwriters: Shannon Carroll, Kate Crosby, Brian Feagans, Raegan Hodge, Andisheh Nouraee
A woman in Niger joins a local women’s savings group to fund previously unattainable opportunities for girls—including her own granddaughter. (World Premiere)
Wonder Buffalo VR
Director: Christine T. Berg, Screenwriters: Christine Berg, Simon Shterenberg
Just another Saturday listening to records and drawing comics until Ann is challenged by an archnemisis: her mother. Tired of being called a fat lazy water buffalo, Ann stands up for herself. Find the hero within. The Wonder Buffalo VR Experience.
