Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Immersive Program

Virtual Arcade lineup includes 21 world premiere VR, AR experiences and five projects selected for Storyscapes competition.

Tribeca Immersive's Virtual Arcade lineup of VR and AR experiences includes 'BattleScar,' narrated by Rosario Dawson.

NEW YORK -- The Tribeca Film Festival announced the lineup for the 2018 Tribeca Immersive program, which showcases works by artists who are pushing boundaries, using technology to tell stories and create new experiences.

The Virtual Arcade lineup, presented by AT&T, includes 21 world premiere VR/AR exhibits as well as five Storyscapes experiences in competition. The program takes place at the Tribeca Festival Hub from April 20-28.

A new addition to Tribeca Immersive is Tribeca Cinema360, a VR theater featuring four curated screening programs of 360° mobile content, running April 21-28. The 17^th annual Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 18-29.

As one of the first festivals to champion VR as a dynamic form of storytelling, this year’s offerings include 33 virtual-reality innovative exhibitions and experiences from top creators such as Jeremy Bailenson, Chris Milk, Eliza McNitt, Eugene YK Chung, Gabo Arora and Saschka Unseld, and emerging artists Asad J. Malik, Gabriela Arp and Lucas Rizzotto. Other acclaimed creators include: Angel Manuel Soto, Lindsay Branham, and Navid Khonsari. Established directors, actors, and musicians with projects this year include: directors Terrence Malick (Together), Laurie Anderson (Chalkroom); actors Rosario Dawson (BattleScar), Lupita Nyong’o (My Africa), Alicia Vikander (Arden’s Wake: Tide’s Fall); and Grammy Award-winning band OK Go (Untitled OK Go & WITHIN Project).

Several Immersive projects featured in the program tackle timely cultural issues, including racism (1,000 Cut Journey), climate change (This is Climate Change), immigration and xenophobia (Terminal 3), nuclear war (The Day The World Changed) and HIV/AIDS (Queerskins: a love story). In addition, the lineup includes programming that allows visitors to become active participants in astonishing experiences, such as swimming with sharks (Into the Now), caring for a baby elephant (My Africa), being caught in the bombing raid of a town square (Hero), and participating in a groundbreaking collaboration of AR and Immersive Theater from creators Graham Sack, Sensorium Works and NY Theater Workshop (objects in mirror AR closer than they appear).

Tribeca Cinema360 spotlights four immersive screening programs: VR for Good Creators Lab, This is Climate Change, horror themed It’s Right Behind You, and the breathtaking experimental visions of Horizons.

“Each year, we’re seeing creators push boundaries and explore new ways to tell stories through VR. As the technology improves, so does the storytelling, and with that we are able to use VR to tackle new issues, experiences and narratives and invite new audiences to experience these projects,” said Ingrid Kopp, co-curator of Tribeca Immersive.

The project titles follow; for full descriptions visit the Tribeca Immersive website here.

'Star Child' will have its world premiere at Tribeca Immersive, part of the Tribeca Film Festival, set for April 18-29 in New York City.

Virtual Arcade

Twenty projects from five countries, with 17 world premieres, make up this dynamic program.

#WarGames VR (World Premiere) – USA
Arden's Wake: Tide's Fall (World Premiere) – USA
BattleScar (New York Premiere) – USA, France
Campfire Creepers: Midnight March (World Premiere) – France, USA
Chalkroom (New York Premiere) – Taiwan R.O.C., USA
Coral Compass: Fighting Climate Change in Palau (World Premiere) – USA
The Day the World Changed (World Premiere) – USA
Dinner Party (New York Premiere) – Puerto Rico, USA
Firebird: The Unfinished (World Premiere) – France
Fire Escape (World Premiere) – USA
The Hidden (World Premiere) – India, USA
Into the Now (World Premiere) – USA
My Africa (World Premiere) – USA, UK
SPHERES: Pale Blue Dot (World Premiere) – USA
Star Child (World Premiere) – USA
Untitled OK Go & WITHIN Project (World Premiere) – USA, UK
Vacation Simulator (World Premiere) – USA
Vestige (World Premiere) – UK, USA, France
Where Thoughts Go: Prologue (World Premiere) – USA

Storyscapes

The competition includes four world premieres and one New York premiere. One Storyscapes nominee will be selected by a jury to receive the Storyscapes Award, presented by AT&T, which recognizes groundbreaking approaches in storytelling and technology. The five projects come from Canada, Pakistan and the United States.

Biidaaban: First Light (World Premiere) – Canada
Hero (New York Premiere) – USA
objects in mirror AR closer than they appear (World Premiere) – USA
Queerskins: a love story (World Premiere) – USA
Terminal 3 (World Premiere) – USA, Pakistan

Tribeca Cinema360

The Cinema360 includes four programs that play twice daily, including:

Horizons:

02:09 (World Premiere) – Sweden, China
Together (New York Premiere) – USA

It's Right Behind You:

Campfire Creepers: The Skull of Sam (North American Premiere) – Spain, USA
The Caretaker (World Premiere) – USA
An Obituary (boogo) (US Premiere) – South Korea

This is Climate Change:

This is Climate Change (World Premiere) – Åland Islands, Brazil, Greenland, Somalia, USA

VR For Good Creators Lab:

Meeting a Monster (World Premiere) – USA
She Flies by Her Own Wings (World Premiere) – USA
The Hidden (World Premiere) – India, USA

Tribeca Immersive takes place in the Tribeca Festival Hub located at Spring Studios, 50 Varick St., New York, NY 10013. Admission to presentations of the Virtual Arcade featuring Storyscapes is $40. Screening tickets for Cinema360 screenings are $15. Tickets can be purchased online at tribecafilm.com/immersive beginning March 27 or by telephone at (646) 502-5296 or toll free at (866) 941-FEST (3378).

Source: Tribeca Film Festival