Asian VR
Just a few years ago, virtual reality films were perceived as gadgets, interesting novelties for gamers and tech enthusiasts. Today we already know that VR is an extremely creative tool, allowing artists to develop new concepts of storytelling, which engage and entertain the audiences, but also providing a space for deep reflection and unique emotional sensations. VR experiences have made their way into the biggest film festivals and the most important modern art institutes.
The VR experiences can be watched on regular computer, tablet and smartphone screens. To enjoy them more fully, we recommend simple smartphone goggles which will be available at the festival online shop.
Asia is the center of new technologies – also in the film industry. This is the home of some of the biggest companies developing and promoting VR technologies, opening the medium not only to the commercial filmmakers, but also to renown cinematic auteurs, visual artists, and ambitious creators operating in-between different fields.
The past few years brought about an eruption of forms and narrative strategies. The goal of the VR section is to show even a small piece of this vast, diverse universe. It includes experiences made in the convention of video games, filled with pop-culture references, but also very ambitious, demanding para-documentary forms allowing the audiences to experience the characters’ lives in a very immersive way, different from other narratives. The animation, horror film, and noir crime story presented in the section show how classic genres are transferred to the new medium, making a brilliantly creative use of its possibilities.
The section is curated by Stanisław Liguziński – film critic, festival selectioner, video essayist, PhD candidate at the Institute of Audiovisual Arts at Jagiellonian University, graduate of Master of Film at Nederlandse Filmacademie, as well as film studies and comparative studies of civilizations at the Jagiellonian University. As a researcher, he focuses on audiovisual forms of thinking, videographic film studies, and video essays.
How to watch?
You don’t need any special equipment to delve into the VR world at home! The experiences presented in the Asian VR section are made in the 360-degree technology and can be watched on a computer screen, changing the perspective using the arrows on the screen. Or, better yet, on a tablet or a smartphone which you can turn in every direction to explore the new reality and follow the story with your body. The full spectrum of experiences can be achieved with the help of simple VR goggles in which you put a smartphone with the film playing. The goggles will be available on the Festival website from November 6.
The VR experiences can be opened and watched using the Chrome internet browser, on the Festival website.
Note: The VR section is presented with English subtitles only.
Asian VR section partner: NOIZZ
