Interview by Daniel Gusinski
What is IFFR Pro immersive to you? What does this new form of media mean for the future?
The Pro Immersive program is a section of our coproduction market where we support immersive projects in different stages of development whether they be VR, XR, or AR. We get them a platform and help them find a path to production.
We started in 2016 by partnering up with VR days which is a B2B program. By connecting their more tech and VR network we diversified our output. 2017 is the first time we had immersive projects in Cinemart, the oldest coproduction market of its kind. Out of approximately 400 projects in development, we select 15-20 which we present to the industry and help them make their next steps. We see a lot more interest coming from our industry guests. The synergy we wanted to create was not immediately embraced, but now more and more it is.
My view is that immersive media will play a big part on how we experience film. It will only take up more space and be more present. People will have a device and it will be normal to experience a film like this casually.
Pro Immersive offers a new way to engage with traditional film forms, what kind of demographic are you seeking to reach? The younger generation of film fans? Or the traditional crowd who is perhaps interested in discovering what new technology has to offer?
The virtual reality in our program is a finished work. Here we have a new target group with a new, younger audience. However, we see interest coming in from traditional producers and in the audience.
It will happen quicker than we think; within our generation. The synergy that exists, the interest there is; I am very optimistic about it happening in our generation. Accessibility is key.
A facet of new media, Virtual Reality (VR) allows for a new kind of interaction with more standard norms, such as in Confident, where you take a rather interesting Sci-Fi concept and place it into the hands of the viewer to interact with. It is a mixture of game and cinema, something we have been seeing more of recently. Can you speak more on the possibilities of this kind of creation?
I would like to see it becoming more group-focused – people could experience these things together. Somehow you are in a VR world together while simultaneously having a group interaction. VR is changing day to day, the people who are working with it are so creative that they are continuously evolving the form and will eventually allow this to become the norm.
Cosmos Within Us started in Cinemart and then premiered in Venice film festival. An experience where you follow a man with dementia who goes through his life, has flashbacks; you smell things, touch things, and then if you book a behind the scenes look you get to sit with the orchestra which brings it to life. You see them play music as people explore this project; adjusting, improvising at the speed at which an individual audience member engages with the art.
The problem is how to make this commercial. How do you make money with it? It is hard to make your money with these kinds of projects.
“Taking Action” is a rather provocative way to describe Virtual Reality – you are no longer passively consuming entertainment; you are playing a role in it. This is one of the foundational elements of gaming, which has become the most lucrative media business on earth. How do you see viewers “taking action” in future incarnations of this form of entertainment?
If I go by the change in the past five years, the interaction will only continue and increase. New technology creates a grander imagination. Duchampiana, one of our projects, invites women to climb the infinite staircase, rather than going down it. An empowerment and reversal of the classic trope of descending a staircase as a woman.
I suppose this “action” is why so many of these interactive films have activism imbued in them, both political and social. Can you speak more to the overarching politics of independent films in immersive art?
I work in an environment that supports artists with a strong political and activist view. Some of these projects would have never been able to be made in other political settings. Immersive media and art have a closer connection to social and activist topics. It’s rare that it’s pure entertainment.
If I may ask a more esoteric question: The balance of art is complex. And often times a traditional, old school film maker may scoff at these new forms, whether it be due to their reliance on computers, AI, or whatever else. Do you see a future world in which new media exists alongside traditional media? Or a world where new media absorbs traditional media?
I see a world where they will exist alongside one another. The demand for traditional flat and linear films will still exist, but it will be much more equal. It will be normalized to have a piece of technology that facilitates this interaction, it won’t just be a hype idea – it will be an accepted norm.
This is a different medium, so it comes up alongside traditional media. You can make the story in VR and allow the viewer to have an individual, unique experience rather than a linear, flat film where the experience is static.
These projects are evocative, fascinating, and truly innovative. However, I feel as though they would be hard to transport into a more traditional theatrical environment – one in which many dozens of audience members could filter into a theater and experience together. How do you think the future of interaction with this medium will look? Will we learn to adapt it into a more casual, day-to-day experience as we have the cinema or even streaming?
They will become incorporated in cinemas, libraries, places where people go together. Maybe sooner than later we will have devices at home to stream and interact with this form as well. Accessibility is still a key issue, sometimes it’s hard for people to know where to download something. If that is to become more accessible to people and we make it a regular thing then growth will become more prevalent.
In your purview, which projects are you most excited for?
For different reasons, I love Gay Simulator; the images, the artwork, and a debut from this young director who comes from film school. The gaming element, the fun, the tongue-in-cheek humor. Anti-Muse for its stunning images and decolonization theme.
I have a special place in my heart for all of them.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else you would like to add about these topics? What would you say is the easiest way for someone to explore these new, interactive paradigms?
We have an award for the best immersive project from 4DR studios. We find it interesting that a super-commercial studio is interested in these small arthouse immersive projects. They do want to enter this territory, and I expect that will soon be the case for other, large studios.
On the topic of exploration and accessibility, my knowledge and networks come from festivals; people should buy a VR device if they can and start sideloading content. Finding content could be difficult, but that is what festivals are for. Viewing a festival’s catalogue can help someone filter out the fluff and find the great, curated content. That is what we do, that is our job, curate, distribute, and showcase.
