Films in Virtual Reality

While many festivals and conventions moved to the digital frontier during the pandemic, this hasn’t been an exception for the filmmakers who presented their work in virtual reality this year.

One of such events was the festival hosted by Discover Film, an international short film distributor. “When the lockdown came into action, their typical London festival was canceled, so naturally we worked together alongside world creator Rey Skywalker to bring their film festival into VRChat,” said Little Poe, creator of “Virtually Speaking,” a documentary recorded entirely in virtual reality.

And yet, this isn’t the only film festival hosted in VRChat. Similarly to Discover Film’s event, Iso Film Fest took place in virtual reality during the last week of August, presenting “some of the most innovative short films made during the great global lockdown.”

However, arguably the most well-known event moving to VR of this year is the Venice Film Festival where one of the members of the jury will be none other than Hideo Kojima. The festival will be held in VRChat from September 2nd till September 12th, showcasing 44 different film projects from 24 countries. The Grand Jury Prize will be awarded by the judges, including Kojima himself, for categories, such as “Best VR Immersive Work,” “Best VR Immersive User Experience,” and “Best VR Immersive Story.” Hopefully, Mr. Kojima won’t notice the avatars of himself ripped from his own games during his stay in VRChat.