VENICE, Italy (AP) — At the Venice International Film Festival, virtual reality is only a small part of the immersive experience. On a small island just a short water shuttle ride from the main festival headquarters on the Lido, festivalgoers can step into the metaverse. They can play games, or “world hop” with a tour guide, dress up in costume with background dancers, or even help Coco Chanel develop her Chanel No. 5 perfume.
The program curated by Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac runs from Sept. 1 through Sept. 10 and provides a hands-on glimpse into the future of storytelling.
“It’s the biggest edition we have ever done,” Rosenthal said.
The forms have also evolved in the past two years when the Venice virtual program had to go virtual itself. So for this grand return to the Lazzaretto Vecchio, they’ve also given the program a new, more inclusive name: Venice Immersive.
“We wanted to refocus on how quickly the field is diversifying,” Reilhac said. “We did not want to focus on one technology like VR, but to try to represent all kinds of different ways of offering an immersive experience.”