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Doug Liman’s Asteroid and Edward Berger’s Submerged are among 69 projects selected for Venice Immersive, the extended reality section of Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 6).

Xr (extended reality) thriller Asteroid is a 30-minute-long immersive short following a group of strangers who take an old rocket to mine a near-earth asteroid for a chance at substantial wealth.

After its Venice world premiere, Asteroid will launch on Google’s Xr app later this year. It is produced by 30 Ninjas Production, in association with Google initiative 100 Zeros, run in partnership with A Complete Unknown producers Range Media Partners. Creators are Liman,...

American virtual reality and generative AI pioneer Eliza McNitt will preside over the jury of Venice Film Festival’s Immersive section, which has unveiled its selection of 69 projects from 27 countries, 30 of which are in competition.

Highlights of the Venice Immersive competition include “Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman’s upcoming Xr short “Asteroid,” which is “about a group of strangers who risk it all by taking an old rocket to mine a near-earth asteroid for a chance at unimaginable wealth,” according to its synopsis. “Asteroid” will launch on Google’s Xr app later this year.

McNitt, who won the grand prize in the VR category at Venice in 2018, is the director of the groundbreaking VR experience “Spheres.” Executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, the project featured Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith. Her latest project, “Ancestra” — which uses a mix of live-action performances and AI-based visuals — recently premiered at Tribeca...

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for the 2025 Venice Immersive section, showcasing the cutting edge of VR and immersive cinema.

Venice Immersive will present 69 projects from 27 countries, 30 of them in competition.

Among the highlights of this year’s selection are Submerged, a new immersive film from Conclave director Edward Berger for Apple; Asteroid, an Xr thriller from Edge of Tomorrow director and VR enthusiast Doug Liman, due to launch on Google’s Xr App later this year; Charlotte Mikkelberg’s Adventure: Ice Dive for Apple; Agnès Molia’s Dance Dance Dance – Matisse, an immersive, dance-led trip through Henri Matisse’s most iconic works; and La Magie Opéra, a VR exploration of the Palais Garnier by Jonathan Astruc. Also featured are The Exploding Girl VR by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, which premiered earlier this year in Cannes’ immersive competition, and Blur, a mixed-reality theatre experience from Craig Quintero...

Bourne Identity director Doug Liman will unveil his upcoming Xr thriller Asteroid in the Venice Film Festival’s immersive showcase.

Asteroid, which is due to launch on Google’s Android Xr platform later this year, was among 69 works announced for Venice Immersive on Wednesday.

Produced by Liman’s 30 Ninjas Production, in association with Google’s 100 Zeros, a content initiative in partnership with Range Media Partners, the immersive short follows a group of strangers who risk it all by taking an old rocket to mine a near-earth asteroid for a chance at unimaginable wealth.

Creators alongside Liman are Julina Tatlock and Jed Weintrob, who also take producer credits with Marty Schulman, Neil Parris and Jon Zepp.

Launched in 2017, Venice Immersive is dedicated to the immersive arts and media and includes all forms of creative Xr expression including immersive videos, virtual and mixed reality, virtual worlds and immersive installations.

Asteroid will be...

TikTok is filling up with weird AI-generated videos of babies in peril. It’s the sign of a strange new era in entertainment…

It’s unbearably hot, dear reader, and TikTok won’t stop showing me AI-generated videos of babies in peril.

I only have myself to blame: I dwelled too long on one clip of an infant dragged out of the sea by a dog, and now The Algorithm thinks this is all I want to see. Ghouls stealing babies and dangling them over fires; babies crawling into gigantic potholes; babies abandoned on beaches; babies stuck on roofs in the middle of raging storms.

The Algorithm thinks I want to see nothing but babies from the uncanny valley, and now I’m trapped in a peculiarly modern feedback loop.

So how did I get here?

Our customers also liked… Credit: TikTok and Beelzebub, our most Merciful Lord of the Flies.

After officially announcing a new partnership with Google DeepMind to produce short films with Gen-ai and some of Google’s newly announced tools last month, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has unveiled the first of three planned shorts created using generative AI.

Directed by Eliza McNitt and produced by Aronofsky, the short is entitled “Ancestra,” and it will premiere at the Tribeca Festival on Friday night. Per an official statement, the 8-minute short “blends live-action filmmaking from a crew of 200+ artists and technologists.”

The short was inspired by McNitt’s “own life-threatening birth, when doctors discovered a hole in her heart” and aims to “shed light on pregnancy challenges rarely seen in storytelling, breaking through technological barriers that once made these narratives impossible to visualize.” The filmmaker “transform[ed] personal family archives into a visually stunning experience, including images of her likeness in the womb.”

As IndieWire’s Brian Welk previously reported, “McNitt...

Darren Aronofsky’s AI-focused studio Primordial Soup has entered into a strategic partnership with research lab Google DeepMind for the exploration of artificial intelligence’s creative utilities in filmmaking.

Under the partnership, Primordial Soup team will work with Google DeepMind’s research team and three filmmakers to produce short films integrating new technology and storytelling. Google DeepMind will offer the filmmakers early access to cutting-edge generative video tools, which they’ll be able to integrate with live-action photography and traditional VFX. The intention here is to take an open-minded look at AI as a creative tool, rather than a replacement of the artist, examining models that will keep artists in the driver’s seat. The collaboration will also inform the development of new AI tools, ensuring that emerging technologies align with the needs of storytellers.

The first film under the partnership, Eliza McNitt’s Ancestra, will premiere at the Tribeca...

Darren Aronofsky’s newly launched AI-driven studio venture Primordial Soup has partnered with Google DeepMind to produce short films.

The first project, Eliza McNitt’s “Ancestra,” premieres next month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Watch the trailer below. The film, starring SAG-AFTRA actors blends live action with imagery created by gen AI tech.

The film, starring SAG-AFTRA actors blends live action with imagery created by gen AI tech. The film premieres as the festival on June 13, and it will be followed by a panel moderated by Aronofsky featuring the filmmakers.

“Filmmaking has always been driven by technology. After the Lumiere Brothers and Edison’s ground-breaking invention, filmmakers unleashed the hidden storytelling power of cameras,” Aronofsky said in a statement. “Later technological breakthroughs – sound, color, vfx – allowed us to tell stories in ways that couldn’t be told before. Today is no different. Now is the moment to explore these new...

Google is forging deeper into AI video generation, launching a new version of video model Veo 3, a new AI video tool called Flow, and a strategic partnership with director Darren Aronofsky, who is launching a new storytelling venture called Primordial Soup which will seek to use the emerging tech to create compelling content.

“Filmmaking has always been driven by technology. After the Lumiere Brothers and Edison’s ground-breaking invention, filmmakers unleashed the hidden storytelling power of cameras,” Aronofsky said in a statement. “Later technological breakthroughs – sound, color, vfx – allowed us to tell stories in ways that couldn’t be told before. Today is no different. Now is the moment to explore these new tools and shape them for the future of storytelling.”

Primordial Soup has inked a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind to work with researchers and filmmakers on original films, with the first effort, Ancestra (directed by Eliza McNitt...

Darren Aronofsky has launched a new generative AI storytelling venture in which he will partner with Google DeepMind to produce short films with Gen-ai and some of Google’s newly announced tools.

The venture is titled Primordial Soup, and its research team, along with three filmmakers, will produce short films integrating new tech and storytelling and has the mission statement of creating frameworks for AI’s role in filmmaking and putting artists in the driver’s seat of technological innovation.

“Filmmaking has always been driven by technology. After the Lumiere Brothers and Edison’s ground-breaking invention, filmmakers unleashed the hidden storytelling power of cameras. Later technological breakthroughs — sound, color, VFX — allowed us to tell stories in ways that couldn’t be told before. Today is no different. Now is the moment to explore these new tools and shape them for the future of storytelling,” Aronofsky said in an official statement.

Darren Aronofsky has launched Primordial Soup, a new venture he’s positioning as empowering filmmakers with AI-based creative tools.

Primordial Soup forged a partnership with Google DeepMind’s AI research team, and together they are working with three filmmakers to produce short films. Under the partnership, Google DeepMind is providing early-stage access to generative-ai video tools; conversely, the filmmakers are expected to provide feedback to the tech company on the new AI tools to help guide their development.

The first of Primordial Soup’s projects is Eliza McNitt’s “Ancestra,” which uses a mix of live-action performances and AI-based visuals, set to premiere next month at the Tribeca Festival. Primordial Soup’s two other films are in development. Details about those are Tba but both will use new applications of Veo, Google DeepMind’s video-generation model.

Aronofsky said his aim with the company is to ensure that AI serves as...

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival lineup is expanding thanks to the newly unveiled Immersive competition.

The inaugural offering includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, projection mapping, and holographic works. Actors such as Colin Farrell (“Gloomy Eyes”), Olivia Cooke (“Emperor”), Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown, and Patti Smith (“Spheres”) lend their respective voices to the projects created with cutting-edge technology.

The festival will host eight projects as part of the Immersive Competition, ushering in a new era of storytelling while “challenging convention, embracing new technologies, and above all celebrating new artists as well as old,” per the official press statement.

Outside of the competition, six non-competitive works will be featured at the exhibition exploring the evolution of the medium and drawing parallels between virtual reality, virtual production, cinema, and collective storytelling.

The Best Immersive Work Award will be presented by the President of the Jury at the Closing Ceremony on...

Cannes Film Festival (May 15-24) has unveiled the eight titles for its inaugural immersive competition, including projects featuring Cate Blanchett, Millie Bobby Brown, Patti Smith, Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain.

The competition includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, as well as projection mapping and holographic works.

Evolver is voiced by Blanchett, and has previously played at Tribeca and Geneva International Film Festiva. It is helmed by Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin and Robin McNicholas of London-based art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. Dirty Films is also a production company, and Coco Francini, Blanchett, and Andrew Upton are executive producers on the virtual reality project,...

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the inaugural lineup for its Immersive Competition section, the first-ever selection of augmented and virtual reality works to screen at the austere French film fest.

The 8 competition titles and 6 out-of-competition screenings include works featuring such talents as Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Millie Bobby Brown, and Tahar Rahim. The lineup highlights cutting-edge VR and Ar techniques and includes location-based virtual reality, mixed reality experiences, projection mapping, and holographic works.

Introducing the new immersive section, Cannes said it hoped to “spotlight the next generation of international artists who are redefining storytelling and inventing new narrative-driven experiences that move beyond the traditional two-dimensional cinema screen.” The section is being organized with support from the French national film board, the Cnc. The immersive works will be presented at an exhibition space in the Cannes Cineum complex on the outskirts of the city and at the campus of Cannes’s Georges Méliès film school.

The Cannes Film Festival has announced the selections for its Immersive lineup, including projects voiced by stars like Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain.

According to a press release, the Immersive competition includes “collective location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, and projection mapping and holographic works. These carefully selected immersive works showcase the cutting edge of this new era in storytelling, challenging convention, embracing new technologies, and above all celebrating new artists as well as old.”

The eight projects in competition include the French premiere of “Evolver,” voiced by Blanchett, and the European premiere of “Maya: The Birth of a Superhero,” which counts “Bridgerton” star Charithra Chandran among its voice cast.

The out-of-competition lineup comprises six projects, including “Emperor” with “House of the Dragon” star Olivia Cooke; “Gloomy Eyes,” the English version of which is voiced by Farrell; and Eliza McNitt’s “Spheres” with Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown and Patti Smith.

Hollywood veteran Christina Lee Storm delivered opening keynote at 2023 Geneva Digital Market.

Filmmakers and producers should embrace rather than fear the advent of myriad ever-improving technologies, said Hollywood veteran Christina Lee Storm, now founder and CEO of US-based Asher Xr, in a keynote to open the 2023 Geneva Digital Market (Gdm), the industry platform of the Geneva International Film Festival (Giff).

Extended reality (Xr) storytelling, augmented reality (Ar), real time animation, virtual production (VP), the metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI) can all be used to make arresting, in either form or content, narratives, said Lee Storm.

“It’s really about the story,...

Hollywood veteran Christina Lee Storm delivered opening keynote at 2023 Geneva Digital Market.

Filmmakers and producers should embrace rather than fear the advent of myriad ever-improving technologies, said Hollywood veteran Christina Lee Storm, now founder and CEO of US-based Asher Xr, in a keynote to open the 2023 Geneva Digital Market (Gdm), the industry platform of the Geneva International Film Festival (Giff).

Extended reality (Xr) storytelling, augmented reality (Ar), real time animation, virtual production (VP), the metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI) can all be used to make arresting, in either form or content, narratives, said Lee Storm.

“It’s really about the story,...

In preparation for a summer return to in-person artist development labs, the Sundance Institute today named those selected as fellows for its 2022 Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs.

Creatives developing original work for the screen as part of the Native Lab include Justin Ducharme (Positions), Taietsarón:sere ‘Tai’ Leclaire (How to Deal with Systemic Racism in the Afterlife), Daniel Pewewardy (Residential), Tiare Ribeaux (Huaka’i) and Tim Worrall (Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End).

Those participating in the Directors Lab and/or the Screenwriters Lab include Dina Amer (Cain and Abel), Zandashé Brown (The Matriarch), Caledonia Curry and Meagan Brothers (Sibylant Sisters), Hasan Hadi (The President’s Cake), Michael León and Ashley Alvafez (Crabs in a Barrel), Eliza McNitt (Black Hole), Olive Nwosu (Lady), Neo Sora (Earthquake) and Yuan Yang (Late Spring).

The Native Lab began online from May 2-6 and continues in person from May 9-14, in Santa Fe, Nm, for...

Organisation prepares to return to in-person artist development Labs this summer.

As it prepares to return to in-person artist development Labs this summer Sundance Institute has announced the 2022 Fellows across its signature Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs.

Nineteen emerging creators, eight from the Native Lab and 11 from the Directors and Screenwriters Lab will be supported at this year’s Labs as they work to develop original work for the screen, with guidance and mentorship from seasoned creative professionals.

The Native Lab focused on development of storytellers from Native and Indigenous backgrounds ran online from May 2-6 and continues in-person from May 9-14 in Santa Fe,...

First film under arrangement will immerse viewers on Martian colony 60 years in the future.

IMAX Corporation and Imagine Documentaries have signed a five-film deal that launches with Mars 2080.

The large-format event film will immerse viewers inside a colony on Mars set 60 years in the future and is directed by Eliza McNitt (Spheres), who co-writes with Lynn Renee Maxcy.

The film is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, science writer and author of How We’ll Live on Mars. The original concept follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change who make the journey to Mars, adjust...

Imax and Imagine Documentaries have formed a five-year production and distribution agreement, a slate which will include movies on the subjects of space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization, society and more. The first title to be released under the agreement is Eliza McNitt’s Mars 2080 in 2022, produced by Apollo 13‘s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, as well as Imagine’s Justin Wilkes. Mars 2080 will immerse viewers inside a colony on Mars set 60 years in the future.

The movie is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, science writer and author of How We’ll Live on Mars. The original concept follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change, who make the difficult journey to Mars, adjusting to life with hundreds of thousands of people from different countries living together and forming a new civilization unencumbered by the mistakes of their past. P&g’s research scientists who are developing sustainable manufacturing,...

Imax has partnered with Imagine Documentaries, the non-fiction division of the entertainment company founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, to produce and distribute its next five films.

The upcoming slate deal covers topics including space, exploration, natural sciences and more. In addition to co-financing the titles, Imax will screen the movies in its high-quality theaters.

“Mars 2080” will kick off the pact, with the remaining titles to be announced soon. The movie, directed by Eliza McNitt (“Spheres”), is scheduled to release globally in 2022.

Based on a concept by science writer Stephen Petranek, the future-set “Mars 2080” follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change. The duo makes the difficult journey to Mars, adjusting to life with hundreds of thousands of people from different countries as they form a new civilization. The filmmakers are working with research scientists to creatively predict what existing on the red planet could look like in 50 years.

Eliza McNitt is directing the film that conceives of a colony on the Red Planet, which will be released in 2022

Imax and Imagine Documentaries have set a five-film production and distribution deal, starting with a film titled “Mars 2080” about an imagined look at what a colony on Mars would look like 60 years into the future.

The five films will cover subjects focused on space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization and more, and will all be exhibited on Imax’s large-format screens. “Mars 2080” will hit theaters globally in 2022.

“Mars 2080” is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, science writer and author of “How We’ll Live on Mars.” The original concept follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change who make the difficult journey to Mars, adjusting to life with hundreds of thousands of people from different countries forming a new civilization unencumbered by the mistakes of their past.

As SXSW comes to a close, the Austin-based festival unveiled the audience winners from this year’s film festival which includes the Shia Labeouf-fronted drama The Peanut Butter Falcon as well as David Modigliano’s documentary Running With Beto.

The winners for the Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Episodic Premieres, Global, Festival Favorites, Design Award, and Virtual Cinema Jury Award categories were announced Saturday morning.

Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s The Peanut Butter Falcon took the Audience Award for Narrative Spotlight. Featuring an all-star cast including Labeouf, Dakota Johnson, Bruce Dern, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, John Bertnthal and some professional wrestlers you might recognize as well as breakout star Zack Gottsagen, the film follows a young man with Down syndrome runs away from the retirement home where he lives to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. The crowd...

Spheres director Eliza McNitt: "I wanted Jessica Chastain to be in our first episode, the episode about the black holes. And then once we created that episode, it was so clear that I wanted Patti Smith, who to me is the mother of the universe." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At the press preview for the Vr experience Spheres, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel, produced by Jess Engel, Arnaud Colinart, and Dylan Golden with a score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, the writer/director Eliza McNitt shared with me why she chose The Duffer Brothers Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown, Ridley Scott's Martian and Christopher Nolan's Interstellar star Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith.

Eliza McNitt with Anne-Katrin Titze: "I've always grown up with the voices of incredible pioneers like Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking who taught me about science." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

We spoke about...

Spheres, the three-part virtual reality series written and directed by Eliza McNitt, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, and narrated by Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith, is headed to the Big Apple starting next month. The first public viewings of the Vr series begin in January at Rockefeller Center, with tickets on sale now. The series […]

The post Darren Aronofsky-Produced Virtual Reality Seres ‘Spheres’ Coming to New York in 2019 appeared first on /Film.

The Vr film Spheres, directed by Eliza McNitt and executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, will make history once again with the first-ever Vr experience at New York's Rockefeller Center in a limited engagement from Jan. 18-March 3. Tishman Speyer is sponsoring the public run, with exhibition support from Ryot.

Spheres has broken major ground in what may pave the way for Vr distribution going forward. It sold at Sundance as the first Vr film to snatch a seven-figure deal after it was acquired by CityLights. The three-part film, which takes viewers on a journey through outer space to uncover ...

The Vr film Spheres, directed by Eliza McNitt and executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, will make history once again with the first-ever Vr experience at New York's Rockefeller Center in a limited engagement from Jan. 18-March 3. Tishman Speyer is sponsoring the public run, with exhibition support from Ryot.

Spheres has broken major ground in what may pave the way for Vr distribution going forward. It sold at Sundance as the first Vr film to snatch a seven-figure deal after it was acquired by CityLights. The three-part film, which takes viewers on a journey through outer space to uncover ...

The Virtual Reality Portal at the FilmGate Interactive Media Festival, which this year overlapped with Art Basel in downtown Miami, featured a wealth of new discoveries alongside some stellar high-profile projects. Among the three-dozen or so interactive works on display were a pair that made for great companion pieces. The first was Lynette Wallworth’s “psychedelic documentary” Awavena, an inner trip that I’d just missed experiencing at Idfa DocLab (and which made me wish that every Vr experience came with a hammock). The second, Eliza McNitt’s Sundance-premiering outer trip Spheres, also had perhaps the widest target audience of any of the […]...

The Virtual Reality Portal at the FilmGate Interactive Media Festival, which this year overlapped with Art Basel in downtown Miami, featured a wealth of new discoveries alongside some stellar high-profile projects. Among the three-dozen or so interactive works on display were a pair that made for great companion pieces. The first was Lynette Wallworth’s “psychedelic documentary” Awavena, an inner trip that I’d just missed experiencing at Idfa DocLab (and which made me wish that every Vr experience came with a hammock). The second, Eliza McNitt’s Sundance-premiering outer trip Spheres, also had perhaps the widest target audience of any of the […]...

Alfonso Cuaron’s drama shifts to an awards season favourite with Venice victory; The Favourite also receives boost winning Silver Lion and best actress for Olivia Colman.

The Guillermo del Toro-led jury has awarded Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma the Golden Lion at the 75th Venice Film Festival.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite earned the Silver Lion grand jury prize at the awards ceremony on Saturday evening, while Jacques Audiard won the best director award for The Sisters Brothers.

In the acting stakes, Olivia Colman earned the Coppa Volpi best actress prize for The Favourite, and Willem Dafoe took the best...

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” took home the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, the Golden Lion for Best Film.

The film is a semi-autobiographical black-and-white film chronicling a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

“Roma,” produced and financed by Participant, will be distributed by Netflix.

David Linde, CEO of Participant Media and Executive Producer of “Roma,” said, “Working with Alfonso on ‘Roma’ has already been an amazing journey for everyone at Participant, and we are beyond thrilled that his brilliant film has been honored with the Golden Lion. This film is a gift to all audiences, transcending language and cultural barriers and inspiring compassion across the globe.”

The drama, which the streaming giant plans to release theatrically as well, was the choice of a Venice jury led by another Mexican filmmaker, “The Shape of Water” director Guillermo del Toro.

To the surprise of no one in attendance, “Roma” has won the Golden Lion. Alfonso Cuarón’s wrenching drama has emerged as the most critically acclaimed film on the festival circuit this year, and has been widely expected to take home Venice’s top prize since premiering there last week. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” proved to be a hit as well, taking home Best Actress for a never-better Olivia Colman and the Grand Jury Prize as well.

Other big winners include Best Actor Willem Dafoe, whose masterful performance as Vincent van Gogh drives Julian Schnabel’s “At Eternity’s Gate,” and the Coen Brothers, who took home Best Screenplay laurels for “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” Notable films that left the Lido empty-handed include Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux,” László Nemes’ “Sunset,” and Luca Guadagnino’s polarizing “Suspiria” remake.

Cuarón’s close friend Guillermo del Toro led this year’s...

Lineup and Pre-Festival Announcements and News

Telluride Reveals 2018 Full Lineup: ‘Destroyer,’ ‘White Boy Rick,’ and ‘The Old Man & the Gun’ Set for World Premieres

Pre-Festival Analysis

Welcome to the Telluride Film Festival, Your Oscar Race Crucible

Telluride 2018 Analysis: Why This Year’s Oscar Season Feels Different — IndieWire’s Movie Podcast

Film Reviews

‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ Review: Melissa McCarthy Gives Her Best Performance as a Forger Who Dreams of Fame — Telluride

‘Boy Erased’ Review: Lucas Hedges and Nicole Kidman Lead Joel Edgerton’s Powerful Gay Conversion Drama

‘Fistful of Dirt’ Review: An Original Fantasy Set in the Destruction of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico — Telluride

‘White Boy Rick’ Review: Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt Can’t Salvage Bland Tale of Teen FBI Informant

‘Reversing Roe’ Review: Netflix Documentary Condemns the Politicization of Abortion — Telluride

‘Destroyer’ Review: Nicole Kidman Takes No Prisoners as a Badass Detective in Karyn Kusama’s Twisty L.

Scientists believe the Big Bang was silent … and then came sound. Eliza McNitt’s three-part virtual reality project “Spheres,” the first to play at the Telluride Film Festival, uses the most current research as a starting point to imagine the music of the cosmos.

After debuting at Sundance earlier this year (where it became the first Vr experience to be acquired in a seven-figure deal), “Spheres” will screen at Telluride in three parts, including “Pale Blue Dot” (narrated by Patti Smith), “Songs of Spacetime” (narrated by Jessica Chastain), and “Chorus of the Cosmos” (narrated by Millie Bobby Brown). The full program will screen, free of charge, at the Sheridan Opera House Gallery, this weekend.

McNitt recently spoke with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, the project’s executive producer, about roller coasters, “spaghettification,” the cosmos, the future of Vr, and much more. A shorter version of the interview (also attached) will run in The Film Watch,...

Spheres, the three-part film from writer-director Eliza McNitt, is making history as the first and only virtual reality project to screen at the Telluride Film Festival this year. The high-concept CGI project also made waves when it was acquired by distribution venture CityLights in a deal valued in the low- to mid-seven figures at Sundance, billed as the world's first acquisition of a Vr experience. 

The project was executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel of Protozoa Pictures, and produced by Jess Engel, Dylan Golden and Arnaud Colinart. 

The film is split into three parts, with the ...

Spheres, the three-part film from writer-director Eliza McNitt, is making history as the first and only virtual reality project to screen at the Telluride Film Festival this year. The high-concept CGI project also made waves when it was acquired by distribution venture CityLights in a deal valued in the low- to mid-seven figures at Sundance, billed as the world's first acquisition of a Vr experience. 

The project was executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel of Protozoa Pictures, and produced by Jess Engel, Dylan Golden and Arnaud Colinart. 

The film is split into three parts, with the ...

★★★☆☆ / ★★★★☆

A cosmic trip produced by Darren Aronofsky and an immersive Lancaster bombing raid were highlights of the film festival’s virtual reality strand

The virtual reality section at Venice is growing at an almost exponential rate: two years ago it was low-key, notable mainly for a demure Sunday-school retelling of the life of Jesus. In 2018, it is a substantial exhibition featuring state-of-the-art tech and an almost overwhelming range of entries, some of them “full body” concepts in which audience members suit up for a complete immersion. Interestingly, the vocabulary is still in a state of flux: are they “projects”, “installations”, “films”? The festival has intriguingly repurposed a building on a once deserted island to house the event: the Lazzaretto Vecchio, home to a 16th-century plague hospital which has now been imaginatively converted into an exhibition space.

Perhaps the biggest film in the competition is Spheres, written and directed by artist...

“Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown is set to narrate an episode of Darren Aronofsky-produced Vr series “Spheres,” which will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Aronofsky revealed that Brown had joined the voice cast of the three-part series “Spheres” on his Instagram account Wednesday.

The young actress, who plays Eleven in Netflix’s critically acclaimed series “Stranger Things,” follows in the footsteps of Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith, who narrated the first and third episodes, respectively. Directed by Eliza McNitt, the series’ third episode was showcased at Tribeca, and the first installment was shown at Sundance.

All three episodes will be shown together for the first time in Venice as part of the festival’s Vr section.

“Spheres” is an interactive journey inspired by the iconic “Pale Blue Dot” image of planet Earth. Antoine Cayrol, Pierre Zandrowicz, Arnaud Colinart and Fred Volhuer at Paris-based outfit...

Darren Aronofsky’s three-part virtual reality series Spheres will make its world premiere at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, which also will mark the debut of the final chapter of the series, narrated by actress Millie Bobby Brown.

Brown, who received an Emmy nomination for her supporting role as Eleven on the Netflix series Stranger Things, lends her voice to the actual first installment in the trilogy, Spheres: Chorus of the Cosmos, which explores the sounds of the universe from the vantage point of earth.

Spheres made history as the first Vr project to land a seven-figure deal at the Sundance Film Festival, where it screened Spheres: Songs of Spacetime, a journey into a black hole that’s narrated by Jessica Chastain. That second chapter in the series is an Emmy finalist in the 2018 jury category “Innovation in Interactive Media.”

Patti Smith narrated the third installment (and second to screen), Spheres: Pale Blue Dot,...

Atlas V, one of Europe’s leading virtual reality studios, has partnered with the BBC and Arte to develop “Untold Story,” a Vr documentary series showcasing well-known directors exploring passion projects that never got made.

Directed by Clement Deneux (“Zombinladen”), the eight-part documentary will feature material created during pre-production, including storyboards, animatics, concept art, and original artwork. Footage of the featured directors will be shot with volumetric cameras and inserted into a Vr experience.

The directors, whose names will soon be unveiled, will narrate some key points of their respective projects, explain why the movie was important for them and why it never got made. Atlas V has enlisted high-profile casting agent Juliette Menager at Paris-based Joule Studio, who previously worked with Atlas V on their short “Alteration.”

A 10-part web format of “Untold Story” was previously made for Arte with Christophe Gans, Barbet Schroeder, Joe Dante, Tobe Hooper, Michel Hazanavicius,...

When Sundance sales were tallied this year, one title was left out of many stories: “Spheres,” a three-part virtual reality series from executive producer Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures. Vr financing/distribution outfit CityLights’ seven-figure acquisition of the project was reportedly a record for the fest’s 11-year-old New Frontier section.

“The sale signaled that there is a path for independent Vr,” Aronofsky says of director Eliza McNitt’s work, which places viewers in the center of outer space with narration by Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith. “The most important films are often made outside the studio system, where creators have the freedom to advance the medium. We now know this can be true of Vr, too.”

The sale was promising news for Next, the innovation hub at Cannes Market. The section will showcase more than 25 projects (including Vr companion pieces for Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” and Wes Anderson’s...

American singer/songwriter Patti Smith narrated an episode of Darren Aronofsky’s virtual reality experience Spheres.

The three-part series, which is directed by Eliza McNitt, made headlines earlier this year when the Vr financing and distribution venture CityLights announced it would acquire Spheres in a seven-figure deal. That represented a milestone for the emerging medium, which had never sold at a major festival.

Jessica Chastain narrated the first installment, Spheres: Songs of Spacetime, which takes participants on a journey inside a black hole.

Smith lends her memorable voice to the third episode, Spheres: Pale Blue Dot, which premieres Friday at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival’s Immersive category.

“The big bang was silent,” Smith intones. “Then, came sound.”

This installment takes viewers on a cosmic journey told through sound, from the origins of the Universe to our Pale Blue Dot. At the edges of the observable universe, Pale Blue Dot uncovers echoes of the Big Bang.

The 2018 edition of SXSW featured 29 Vr experiences in their Virtual Cinema space at the Jw Marriott. We already covered a few of those 29 pieces when they premiered at Sundance. That includes Angel Manuel Soto's Dinner Party, Tyler Hurd's Chorus, Eliza McNitt's Spheres: Songs of Spacetime, Celine Tricart and Christian Stephen's Sun Ladies Vr, Felix & Paul's Space Explorers: A New Dawn, and Summation of Force by Trent Parke, Narelle Autio, and Matthew Bate. Of the remaining 23, we've done 'em all and have a few words about each below. Rone Lester Francois's innovative Vr documentary about Aussie street artist Rone starts in a 3D rendered gallery featuring the artist's huge murals. After traversing the short corridors examining the art, you reach a...

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While everyone was busy complaining about slow sales at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, something remarkable happened: The festival saw its first major Vr acquisition. For a reported low-to-mid seven figures, CityLights bought the three-part Vr series “Spheres,” directed by science-storytelling whiz Eliza McNitt, narrated by Jessica Chastain, and executive produced by Darren Aronofsky.

A few days later, in the first sale of a Vr documentary at Sundance, Dogwoof acquired “Zikr: A Sufi Revival,” directed by Gabo Arora​. “Zikr” is a 15-minute interactive Vr experience that uses song and dance to transport four participants at a time into ecstatic Sufi dance rituals; in addition to location-based installations, the deal includes funding for an online version of the Vr experience that allows multiple players to be networked at once.

In the six years since the festival’s New Frontier section presented its first Vr piece, Nonny de la Pena’s “Hunger in La,...

“Spheres,” a three-part virtual reality series executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, was purchased for seven figures at Sundance. The buyer is CityLights, a Los Angeles-based, Vr financing and distribution studio founded this month. “Songs of Spacetime,” the 13-minute, Jessica Chastain-narrated first episode, screened last week in the New Frontier section at the festival’s newest venue, The Ray Theatre.

Read More: Darren Aronofsky: ‘Keeping Audiences on the Edge of Their Seat Is Our Job, Especially in Today’s World’ – Toolkit Podcast

Aronofsky and his “Noah” co-writer, Ari Handel, oversaw production through their Protozoa Pictures banner. All three chapters were directed by Eliza McNitt, writer of “Fistful of Stars,” another space-set, Vr experience that debuted last year at South by Southwest.

“‘Spheres’ explores the songs of the cosmos,” said McNitt. “Most people think Space is silent — it’s not. We’re excited for CityLights to help bring this experience to...

Exclusive: The deepest darkest corners of the universe are unveiled in the new trailer for Eliza McNitt’s Spheres: Songs of Spacetime, the first installment of three in an episodic series will be released on the Oculus Rift in 2018. Making its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the New Frontier category, Songs of Spacetime is executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, and Jessica Chastain, who also serves the narrator. Haunting, mysterious and…...