16 immersive works from 9 countries will be presented in the Selection, including 9 in the Competition.
The Immersive Competition Jury will be chaired by French director Luc Jacquet, who will be joined by American artist Laurie Anderson, French writer Tania de Montaigne, British director Martha Fiennes and Japanese video game creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi.
This prestigious jury will have the noble task of awarding the prize for Best Immersive Work at the Immersive Closing Ceremony on May 22.
The First Edition of the Immersive Competition was in 2024. This year’s event will be held at the Carlton Hotel during the 78th Festival de Cannes.
Returning for a second consecutive year, the Immersive Competition was introduced in 2024 to celebrate new forms of storytelling through spatial and sensory experiences. By freeing themselves from the screen and traditional cinematic language, immersive works invite viewers to enter into the narrative, and often interact with it.
This year’s Immersive Selection will showcase nine works in the Competition, two non-competitive, and a Focus program featuring five Luxembourg creations that will give festival-goers an unprecedented insight into immersive creative processes.
Together, these sixteen proposals offer an overview of a rapidly evolving language – from virtual reality and mixed reality to video mapping and artificial intelligence. Designed to be experienced rather than viewed, these works take us into imaginary worlds where space, narrative and emotion intertwine. They also invite us to question our relation to power, domination and the complex, ambivalent ties we maintain with the natural world, technological systems, our own bodies and our fellow human beings. This year’s talented cast includes Fanny Ardant, Daisy Ridley, Zar Amir and Rod Paradot.
For the first time, the Immersive Competition will take place at the Carlton Hotel from May 14 to 23. The Croisette’s iconic venue will thus be transformed into a showcase dedicated to experiential and innovative forms of narration.
See the works in competition here
