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The 2023 Venice Immersive program has been unveiled.

The annual programming features 44 projects from 25 countries, with Singing Chen serving as jury president. The selection of projects for the Xr – Extended Reality section will take place during the 80th Venice International Film Festival from August 30 to September 9. The official program is hosted on the Venice Immersive Island (island of Lazzaretto Vecchio), a short distance from the Lido di Venezia.

Venice Immersive is entirely devoted to immersive media and includes all Xr means of creative expression: 360° videos and Xr works of any length, including installations and virtual worlds. Twenty-eight projects are debuting in Competition, with 10 projects Out of Competition which have already been released or premiered elsewhere internationally in the past year since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival.

The Venice Immersive World on VRChat will present a virtual presentation, with the Worlds Gallery section showcasing a selection of 24 virtual worlds,...

Stars: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Marilyn Lima, Romane Bohringer, Rossy De Palma, Tchéky Karyo | Written by Stéphane Landowski, Mathias Malzieu | Directed by Mathias Malzieu

If you follow me on Twitter or know me at all, you probably know that I’m not really a fan of romantic movies. That’s not to say I hate them, I’m just very choosy about which ones I watch because I know I’m not going to like the majority of them… However by being part of the Fantasia Festival meant that I would give A Mermaid In Paris a chance. I know the festival is full of original and entertaining films, and this one looked no different.

In it, we see Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) save an injured mermaid, Lula (Marilyn Lima) and take her to his home to his bath tub to heal. Gaspard has had his heartbroken on too many occasions and believes he will never love again,...

Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) has lived his entire life in pursuit of fulfilling a promise from his grandmother that he’s never quite understood. She was the matriarch of a family that reached well past blood to encompass a group of artistic “Surprisers” who gathered at her famed Flowerburger—an underground speakeasy of sorts doubling as a safe haven for anti-fascist disruptors during the war where song and dance led to poems and love. With a wealth of important Parisian history many will never know, she made certain to document everything that occurred via an impossible pop-up book bestowed upon her grandson before her death. He took it willingly and excitedly because he wanted to grow up and continue her legacy. Life just hasn’t yet allowed Gaspard to do so.

And he’s lovesick as a result. He’ll say it’s a result of multiple singer girlfriends that haven...

Dionysos lead singer Mathias Malzieu makes live-action feature directorial debut.

Sony Pictures International Productions (Spip), riding high after the weekend box office success of local-language comedy Padre No Hay Más Que Uno in Spain, has come on board to co-produce the French adventure romance A Mermaid In Paris (Une Sirène À Paris) with Kinology, Overdrive Productions and Entre Chien et Loup.

Mathias Malzieu, lead singer of French pop band Dionysos, will make his live-action feature directorial debut on the project, based on his novel from publishing house Albin Michel that sold more than 100,000 copies in France.

Malzieu and Stéphane Landowski co-wrote the screenplay,...

Mathias Malzieu is set to direct “A Mermaid in Paris,” a romantic comedy/fantasy with Reda Kateb and Clémence Poesy.

Kinology is handling international sales on the film, as well as co-producing with Wonder Films and Entre Chien et Loup. Sony will distribute the film in France. Virginie Ledoyen, Rossy de Palma and Eric Cantona round out the cast.

Malzieu, who made his feature debut with the animated film “Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart,” wrote “A Mermaid in Paris” with Stéphane Landowski (“Rise of a Star”).

“‘A Mermaid in Paris’ will be Mathias’ first live-action film and it will mark the birth of a visionary auteur in the veins of Michel Gondry — he has an amazingly rich imagination, unusual way of telling stories full of whimsical charm and talent for creating endearing characters,” said Gregoire Melin, founder of Kinology.

Malzieu, who’s also a singer and an artist, wrote a...