Virtual | Mixed Reality (VR) (MR)

Tribeca Immersive, at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, where top VR creators choose to debut their latest work, will showcase more than 30 cinematic and cutting-edge virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality experiences by top artists who push the boundaries of storytelling with technology. Tribeca Immersive encompasses two events that run the duration of the Festival, Virtual Arcade, presented by AT&T, and Tribeca Cinema360. The Tribeca Film Festival takes place from April 24 to May 5.

Read more

[caption id="attachment_27430" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Caretaker[/caption] Filmmakers Jacob Wasserman, Adam Donald and Ant Gentile announced the formation of Hidden Content, a full-service virtual reality. Their first project was unveiled yesterday at the Tribeca Film Festival with the world premiere of their narrative 360 Cinema project The Caretaker, the first installment of an original horror anthology series. Created by Wasserman and Donald as well as filmmaker Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes Of My Mother, Piercing), The Caretaker stars Adelaide Clemens, Tom Lipinski, Clara Wong and Diana Agostini, was produced by Max Born and Schuyler Weiss and executive produced by Gentile and Kimberly Parker. The pilot was a co-production with RealMotion Inc. and audio services were provided by Hobo Audio. Hidden Content has also teamed with film producer and financier Max Born to produce and acquire a slate of VR films and series, as well as develop a VR/AR distribution platform. Wasserman, Donald and Gentile have been working in the virtual reality and 360 cinema space for some time, having produced high profile VR commercials and branded content experiences, including Samsung’s “Anatomy of Ski” 4D VR Experience for the 2018 Winter Olympics, featuring Olympic gold medalist downhill skier Bode Miller and “360 Meals,” a journey inside celebrity chef Daniel Boulud’s Michelin-starred flagship restaurant, Daniel. The trio’s first narrative effort, the interactive VR thriller Broken Night starring Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2017 and was also featured at Cannes NEXT 2017. Hidden Content and Max Born are currently in development on three additional VR genre series, and are in talks with outside creators to acquire new content to build out their 2018 project slate.

The Hidden Content Team

Jacob Wasserman Jacob Wasserman has produced notable and critically acclaimed films including James White (Winner of Sundance NEXT Audience Award, AFI Audience Award), The Eyes of My Mother (Sundance NEXT 2016 Official Selection), virtual reality film Broken Night (2017 Cannes NEXT) with his latest feature films TYREL and Piercing premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. His most recent VR narrative film The Caretaker , which he co-wrote and directed alongside horror director Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes Of My Mother, Piercing), will have its premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Wasserman has also produced and directed several award winning commercials, music videos and virtual reality films for clients including The North Face, Gatorade, The Wall Street Journal, Sony Music and Samsung. He a founding partner of Virtual Reality production company, Hidden Content and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. Adam Donald Adam Donald is a director who continues to expand his work and collaborations across all genres from Film and Television to Virtual Reality. He is a founding partner in Hidden Content, and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Donald has worked with the world’s top agencies and directed story-telling campaigns for many global brands, including The North Face, Gatorade, Sony, SKYY Vodka, NBA, Budweiser, and American Express, featuring world class artists and athletes Jay Z, Pharell, Diplo, Courtney Love, Venus Williams, Usain Bolt and Elton John, among others. He is the recipient of several industry awards, including The New Directors Showcase, Clio Advertising Awards, D&AD Awards, as well as VMA nominations. In addition to his commercial work, Donald recently directed a television pilot for TruTV and co-directed the experimental VR dance film, The Gate. This is the second year he has had a film selected for both Tribeca and Cannes Film festivals. Ant Gentile Ant Gentile has worked in audio and video production for over 10 years, serving as creative director and producer for clients including Samsung, ABC, Interscope Records, Atlantic Records, CenturyLink, McGraw-Hill Education, Clearasil, Cengage, 451 Media, and Sun Chemical. Wanting the ability to offer full-service production, Gentile opened a state-of-the-art audio production facility in midtown Manhattan, allowing him to score, mix and sound design projects for his clients, as well as start a music publishing and podcast division. In addition, Gentile has executive produced two feature length documentaries and has raised significant strategic funding for both entertainment projects and tech start-ups. With a passion for storytelling in new media, as well as relationships tech and VC companies, Gentile joined with commercial and narrative filmmakers Adam Donald and Jake Wasserman and producing VR content under a new banner, Hidden Content. Nicolas Pesce Nicolas Pesce’s debut feature The Eyes Of My Mother was one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of 2016. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT section and was released theatrically in the U.S. by Magnolia Pictures. In 2013, Pesce developed an animated series starring Malcolm MacDowell, J.K. Simmons, and Colin Quinn and most recently he completed his second feature film Piercing , based on the Ryu Murakami novel by the same title. Piercing premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight section and stars Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Maria Dizzia, and Marin Ireland. Nick is writing and will direct the upcoming The Grudge for Good Universe and Ghost House Pictures. Pesce is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and currently lives in Los Angeles. Max Born Born is a film producer and financier and his production of Josh Mond’s James White was the start of what would be a successful collaboration with Borderline Films, with whom he went on to produce Nicolas Pesce’s debut feature The Eyes Of My Mother. Shortly thereafter he developed Piercing with Pesce and Borderline, which Pesce directed and premiered at Sundance 2018. In 2017, Born collaborated with Sebastián Silva on his film TYREL, which premiered in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. He is currently developing both adapted and original content with Pesce, Silva, and Antonio Campos of Borderline. More recently, Born has refocused on development financing and has already started to build a small library of IP to adapt with more filmmakers. Also in 2018, Born produced a VR short called The Caretaker, which will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and screen in Cannes NEXT. Along with production and post-production partners in this emerging medium, Born is looking to create what would essentially be a small VR studio.

Read more

[caption id="attachment_28057" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] “Survivor testimonial projected on the burned out walls of the Hiroshima Dome.” From The Day the World Changed. Photo credit: Tomorrow Never Knows.[/caption] The virtual reality experience, The Day the World Changed, co-created by award-winning filmmakers and virtual reality pioneers, Gabo Arora and Saschka Unseld, will premiere in the Virtual Arcade that runs April 20 to 29, at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.   Produced by Jennifer Tiexiera, the social, interactive experience pairs ground-breaking technologies with rare survivor testimonies from Hiroshima to bring the terror of nuclear war to vivid life. “Over the years, we have been desensitized to the consequences of nuclear war,” said Arora. “We are living in a time when our Commander-in-Chief and leaders of other nations are openly calling for more nuclear weapons, taunting each other over their capabilities. Our intention with this work is to give voice to those victims of nuclear war asking the world to face this shared history and to recognize the true horror of these weapons.” Added Saschka Unseld, “We want this to be an unwavering, uncomfortable experience for people. We want to turn on its head our obsessions and fetishizing of nuclear superiority as a symbol of pride in one’s country, but also to recognize the power of the virtual reality medium. By placing the general public inside the ruins of a tragic event like Hiroshima, we hope to activate a groundswell of support for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and to help ICAN generate momentum in their mission towards elimination.” The Day the World Changed began as an original commission by Nobel Media to showcase the work of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization ICAN, a campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. “We find ourselves at one of the most dangerous moments since the dawn of the Atomic Age. It’s at moments like this that we must collectively look back and understand that nuclear weapons are quite simply indiscriminate weapons of mass murder,” said ICAN executive director, Beatrice Fihn. “The Day the World Changed isn’t just a story about the past, it is also about our future—it reminds us that these weapons are still here, threatening us, but we can do something about it.” With that goal in mind, the experience presents a powerful historical record reimagined through new technology via three interactive chapters. The first explores what led the United States government to develop and drop the world’s first atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, a catastrophic event that ultimately killed more than 90,000 people. The second chapter examines the aftermath of the bombing as users walk through the ruins of Hiroshima’s only remaining building, and view authentic artifacts left over from that day. The third chapter advances to the present day as viewers delve into the madness that ensued as the world raced to develop ever-more nuclear weapons. The experience seeks to pay tribute to the victims of Hiroshima, while recognizing those currently affected by nuclear weapons testing in today’s fraught geo-political climate, proving that change is possible with the right tools and information. “The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund prides itself on elevating and empowering voices that have been ignored, voices that aren’t afraid to push the envelope and explore the complexities of what drives us as a society and as individual beings,” said executive producer and director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University Annette Porter. “We are honored to support and participate in this monumental project.” Tomorrow Never Knows CEO and Executive Producer on the project, Nathan Brown, is quick to note the impact The Day the World Changed will have in bridging the gap between art, education and location-based distribution. “This project goes far beyond mere technology or storytelling,” he says. “It is important experiences like this that have the potential to open up new markets and audiences to the power of immersive storytelling around the world.” The Day the World Changed was made in partnership with International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Nobel Media, Sisu Films and Ntropic+Tactic and produced by Tomorrow Never Knows, Jennifer Tiexiera, Tom Lofthouse and Fifer Garbesi, and executive produced by Nathan Brown, Executive Director of ICAN and current Nobel Peace Prize Nobel Laureate, Beatrice Fihn, Mattias Fryenius, Karen Lorenzo, Annette Porter and features original sound design by AntFood. Tomorrow Never Knows’ inaugural feature, the critically-acclaimed ZIKR: A Sufi Revival, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and was later acquired by UK-based distribution company, Dogwoof, becoming the first ever VR documentary to be acquired at a major film festival.

Read more

[caption id="attachment_27429" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] My Africa[/caption] The Tribeca Immersive program at the upcoming 2018 Tribeca Film Festival showcases works by artists who are pushing boundaries, using technology to tell stories and create new experiences. The Virtual Arcade lineup includes 21 world premiere VR/AR exhibits as well as five Storyscapes experiences in competition. The program takes place at the Tribeca Festival Hub from April 20 to 28. A new addition to Tribeca Immersive is Tribeca Cinema360, a VR theater featuring four curated screening programs of 360° mobile content, running April 21-28. The 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 18 to 29, 2018. As one of the first festivals to champion VR as a dynamic form of storytelling, this year’s offerings include 33 virtual reality (VR) innovative exhibitions and experiences from top creators such as Jeremy Bailenson, Chris Milk, Eliza McNitt, Eugene YK Chung, Gabo Arora, and Saschka Unseld, and emerging artists Asad J. Malik, Gabriela Arp, and Lucas Rizzotto. Other acclaimed creators include: Angel Manuel Soto, Lindsay Branham, and Navid Khonsari. Established directors, actors, and musicians with projects this year include: directors Terrence Malick (Together), Laurie Anderson (Chalkroom); actors Rosario Dawson (BattleScar), Lupita Nyong’o (My Africa), Alicia Vikander (Arden’s Wake: Tide’s Fall); and GRAMMY® award winning band OK Go (Untitled OK Go & WITHIN Project). Several Immersive projects featured in the program tackle timely cultural issues, including racism (1,000 Cut Journey), climate change (This is Climate Change), immigration and xenophobia (Terminal 3), nuclear war (The Day The World Changed) and HIV/AIDS (Queerskins: a love story). In addition, the lineup includes programming that allows visitors to become active participants in astonishing experiences, such as swimming with sharks (Into the Now), caring for a baby elephant (My Africa), being caught in the bombing raid of a town square (Hero), and participating in a groundbreaking collaboration of AR and Immersive Theater from creators Graham Sack, Sensorium Works and NY Theater Workshop (objects in mirror AR closer than they appear). Tribeca Cinema360 spotlights four immersive screening programs: VR for Good Creators Lab, This is Climate Change, horror themed It’s Right Behind You, and the breathtaking experimental visions of Horizons.  

VIRTUAL ARCADE

20 projects from five countries, with 17 world premieres, make up this dynamic program. #WarGames VR (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Sam Barlow, Eko Key Collaborators: MGM, m ss ng p eces Kelly, an ex-military brat-turned-hacker activist, teams up with international hackers in an attempt to bring about peace. But, as events escalate, it begins to appear that they may have done more harm than good. #WarGames puts viewers in the middle of the convergence of hacktivism, modern-day espionage, and military intrigue. 1000 Cut Journey (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Courtney Cogburn, Elise Ogle, Jeremy Bailenson, Tobin Asher, Teff Nichols Key Collaborators: Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Cogburn Research Group In this immersive virtual-reality experience, the viewer becomes Michael Sterling, a black man, encountering racism as a young child, adolescent, and young adult. 1,000 Cut Journey highlights the social realities of racism, for understanding racism is the essential first step in promoting effective, collective social action and achieving racial justice. Arden’s Wake: Tide’s Fall (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Eugene YK Chung, Jimmy Maidens Key Collaborators: Devon Penney, Annmarie Koenig, Bruna Berford, Christina Tasooji, Adrian Ochoa, Jessica Douglas, Terry Kaleas, Kinga Vasicsek Tide’s Fall continues the journey of Meena, a young woman living in a post-apocalyptic world and searching for her father in the depths of the ocean after his unexpected disappearance. Featuring the voice of Academy Award-winner Alicia Vikander, this expansion of Penrose Studios’ award winning Arden’s Wake embraces the art of long-form storytelling in virtual reality. Cast: Alicia Vikander (narrator) BattleScar (New York Premiere) – USA, France Project Creator: Nico Casavecchia, Martin Allais Key Collaborators: Arnaud Colinart, Andrew Geller, Raphael Penasa, René Pinnell After Lupe, a Puerto Rican runaway, meets Debbie in the cell of a juvenile detention center, she is introduced to the punk scene of the Lower East Side and the secret world of Alphabet City. BattleScar is a coming of age drama set in 1978 New York that explores identity and empowerment through stunning animation and immersive environments. Cast: Rosario Dawson (narrator) Campfire Creepers: Midnight March (World Premiere) – France, USA Project Creator: Alexandre Aja Key Collaborators: Casey Cooper Johnson, Martin Andersen When the kids at Camp Coyote are forced on a brutal midnight march by their sadistic counselors, one boy reaches his breaking point. He turns the tables on the bullies, revealing a surprising secret about himself in the process. Master of horror Alexandre Aja invites viewers on a thrilling ride that will leave them gasping. Cast: Archie Lewis, Chloe Hawthorne, Kai Czuplak, Lara Karbritz, Lola Martin Chalkroom (New York Premiere) – Taiwan R.O.C., USA Project Creator: Laurie Anderson, Hsin-Chien Huang Chalkroom is a virtual reality work by celebrated artist Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang in which the reader—the viewer—flies through an enormous structure made of words, drawings, and stories. Inside the experience, the reader is free to roam and fly, while words sail through the air like emails, fall into dust, and form and reform. Coral Compass: Fighting Climate Change in Palau (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Tobin Asher, Elise Ogle, Jeremy Bailenson Key Collaborators: Rob Dunbar, Bob Richmond Palau, like many other small countries, is powerless to curb global carbon dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, the tiny island nation is adapting to climate change: In its clear, warm waters exist resilient coral reefs safeguarded by a strong-willed people fighting to keep them alive. The Day the World Changed (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Gabo Arora, Saschka Unseld Key Collaborators: Nathan Brown, Tom Lofthouse, Jennifer Tiexiera, Nate Robinson, Igal Nassima This virtual-reality experience situates participants in the ruins of Hiroshima after the bomb, allowing them to witness testimony from survivors and survey the nuclear arms race through immersive, interactive data visualization. The Day the World Changed, from acclaimed creators Gabo Arora & Sachka Unseld, brings the harrowing impressions of the victims of atomic bombings and nuclear tests to viewers through innovative use of 3-D scanning and photogrammetry. Dinner Party (New York Premiere) – Puerto Rico, USA Project Creator: Angel Manuel Soto, Charlotte Stoudt, Laura Wexler Key Collaborators: Rachel Skidmore, Bryn Mooser, Erik Donley Dinner Party tells the incredible story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who made the first report of a UFO abduction in America in 1961. Having sought hypnosis to recover memories of their inexplicable experience, the Hills decide to listen to the recording of their session during a dinner party—and what they hear could change their lives forever. Cast: Malcolm Barrett, Sarah Sokolovic Firebird: The Unfinished (World Premiere) – France Project Creator: Balthazar Auxietre Key Collaborators: Hadrien Lanvin The curator of a museum dedicated to the famous sculptor Auguste is making a last inspection the night before the grand opening when a storm breaks out. Suddenly, the statues populating the grounds are not quite as still as one might expect—but it’s not clear whether the storm outside is playing mind games, or whether, perhaps, the ghost of Auguste has appeared to ask for help finishing his masterpiece. Cast: Tarek Aitmeddour, Raphaelle Boitel, Augustin Jacob, Pauline Journe, Myriam Kerkour, David Negroni Fire Escape (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Vassiliki Khonsari, Navid Khonsari, Andres Perez-Duarte, Sam Butin Key Collaborators: Lulu LaMer, Maria Essig, iNK Stories This innovative, interactive thriller invites the participant to peer into the private lives of eight diverse New Yorkers from the vantage of a fire escape, where suspicion and deception unfold in real time. Set against the shadowy backdrop of gentrification in contemporary Brooklyn, Fire Escape depicts a contingent of disenfranchised tenants who soon become entangled in a string of dark mysteries and murder. Cast: ASMR Darling, Ethan Rains, Edward Jackson, Michelle Lukes, Olivia Preciado, Tanya Henderson, Giselle Gilbert The Hidden (World Premiere) – India, USA Project Creator: Lindsay Branham Key Collaborators: International Justice Mission, Oculus VR for Good There are currently more people living in slavery than at any other time in human history. One such family has been enslaved in a rock quarry in southern India for 10 years—over a paltry debt of $70 USD. Indian government representatives, supported by the human rights group International Justice Mission, plot a daring raid to free the family. Also playing as a part of Cinema360: VR For Good Creators Lab Into the Now (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Michael Muller Key Collaborators: Michael Smith, Morne Hardenberg Director and legendary shark photographer Michael Muller’s lifelong fear of sharks eventually led him to discover the tranquility and peace of mind that is possible underwater, engaged with these curious and intimidating creatures. This stunning documentary, a revolutionary, stereoscopic virtual-reality experience, explores marine life and ocean conservation via Muller’s own internal journey. My Africa (World Premiere) – USA, UK Project Creator: Conservation International, Passion Planet, Vision3 In Northern Kenya, the futures of wildlife and people are intertwined. Stand in the midst of a thundering wildebeest migration, witness a lioness snatch her prey—and meet a community dedicated to saving Africa’s wildlife in My Africa. The mixed-reality, companion experience puts paticipants in the shoes of a Reteti Elephant Sanctuary keeper caring for the newest arrival, a baby elephant named Dudu. Cast: Lupita Nyong’o (narrator), Naltwasha Leripe SPHERES: Pale Blue Dot (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Eliza McNitt Key Collaborators: Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Jess Engel, Arnaud Colinart, Dylan Golden In this cosmic journey from the edges of the universe to our “pale blue dot,” the viewer uncovers echoes of the Big Bang; gazes back in time; traces the history of sound across the cosmos, uncovering the strangest song of all; and traverses the universe, ultimately finding a path home. Star Child (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Paul Bettner Key Collaborators: Mia Goodwin This cinematic platforming adventure follows the journey of Spectra and her companion on an important mission to an alien planet. After they are stranded, they uncover a hostile, overwhelming force that threatens to destroy everything. Inspired by countless science fiction adventure classics—games, books, and movies alike—Star Child is, at its heart, both a mystery and a journey of self-discovery. Untitled OK Go & WITHIN Project (World Premiere) – USA, UK Project Creator: Chris Milk, Damian Kulash Key Collaborators: WITHIN, OK Go, Oculus Innovative creators Chris Milk and OK Go’s Damian Kulash invite pairs of participants into a wondrous environment where they can experience the joy of creating music through collaboration. In this virtual world, replete with magical music-making contraptions, friendly animals, robots, and audience members work together to create an original song. Vacation Simulator (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Owlchemy Labs Key Collaborators: The follow-up to the wildly popular virtual-reality game Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator returns participants to the world of Owlchemy Labs, where they can visit Vacation Island and experience “recreation,” optimal “relaxation,” and classic human pastimes like “sunburn.” Vacation Island offers all this and more, helping visitors rediscover the lost art of “time off.” Vestige (World Premiere) – UK, USA, France Project Creator: Aaron Bradbury Key Collaborators: Paul Mowbray, Antoine Cayrol, Jill Klekas Basmajian This creative nonfiction experience uses multi-narrative and volumetric capture to journey through the mind of Lisa as she remembers her lost love, Erik. Fragments of memories of their life together appear inside a void and, over time, become entangled with a haunting vision, culminating in the shocking moment of Erik’s death. Cast: Lisa Elin Where Thoughts Go : Prologue (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Lucas Rizzotto Key Collaborators: Tarik Merzouk, Steven Hodgson An intimate social virtual-reality experience, Where Thoughts Go is set in a world where all human thoughts exist as sleeping creatures, each holding a voice message left by a previous visitor. As they awake, they reveal the dreams, experiences and fears of other people—and give the participant the opportunity to leave their own for others to find.

STORYSCAPES

The competition includes four world premieres and one New York premiere. One Storyscapes nominee will be selected by a jury to receive the Storyscapes Award, presented by AT&T, which recognizes groundbreaking approaches in storytelling and technology. The five projects come from Canada, Pakistan and USA. Biidaaban: First Light (World Premiere) – Canada Project Creator: Lisa Jackson, Mathew Borrett, Jam3 and the National Film Board of Canada Key Collaborators: Rob McLaughlin, Dana Dansereau The town square has flooded, buildings and subways have merged with local flora, and indigenous languages and knowledge are thriving in a radically different future Toronto. Here, in the future, people have found a connection to the past. As a work of indigenous futurism, Biidaaban explores how the languages of native peoples can provide a framework for understanding our place in the world and open up a space for new imaginings of the future. Hero (New York Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Navid Khonsari, Vassiliki Khonsari, Brooks Brown Key Collaborators: Mark Harwood, Sinclair Fleming, Andres Perez-Duarte, Sam Butin, iNK Stories, Starbreeze Studios This powerfully immersive, large-scale, multi-sensory installation explores humanity in our modern era of civilian warfare. When everyday life is disrupted by a barrel bomb falling from the sky, provoking a profound crisis in this vérité virtual-reality experience, only connection among humans can inspire hope, and participants must embark on a visceral hero’s journey. Cast: Masoume Khonsari, Perla Daoud, Samer Sakka, Sam Sako, Said Faraj, Sue Shaheen [caption id="attachment_27428" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] objects in mirror AR closer than they appear[/caption] objects in mirror AR closer than they appear (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Graham Sack, Geoff Sobelle, John Fitzgerald, Matthew Niederhauser Key Collaborators: Sarah Hughes, Steven Dufala, Steve Cuiffo, Jecca Barry, The Molecule, New York Theatre Workshop, SilVR Based on the critically acclaimed theatrical performance The Object Lesson, objects in mirror AR closer than they appear fuses augmented reality technology with an immersive theater installation, inviting audiences to reflect on the relationship between new media and archaic objects; 21st-century technology and 19th-century magic; and memory and optical illusion. The piece creates a philosophical playground to explore the shifting relationship between images, memories, and things. Cast: Geoff Sobelle Queerskins: a love story (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Illya Szilak, Cyril Tsiboulski In Missouri in the early ’90s, a diary and a box of belongings offers a devoutly Catholic mother—and participants of this haptic virtual-reality experience—a chance to know Sebastian, the estranged son she has lost to AIDS. Sitting in the back seat of a car, behind Sebastian’s parents, you take an emotionally charged journey down a country road, a memory lane populated with scrapbook artifacts that present an archive of Sebastian’s life. Cast: Hadley Boyd, Drew Moore, Michael DeBartolo Terminal 3 (World Premiere) – USA, Pakistan Project Creator: Asad J. Malik Key Collaborators: Kaleidoscope VR, Anita Gou, RYOT, Philipp Schaeffer, Viva Wittman, Jack Daniel Gerrard, Musa Ghaznavi Terminal 3 is an interactive, augmented-reality documentary that explores contemporary Muslim identities in the U.S. through the lens of an airport interrogation. As viewers put on the Hololens, they step into the uncanny to directly interrogate, and determine the fate of, the hologram passenger before them. These interrogations become strikingly personal encounters that only end when the participant decides if the hologram should be let into the country or not—but there is a twist. Cast: Aisha Yousaf, Ahmad Cory Jubran, Fereydoun Vakhshoury, Ani Zonneveld, Helya Salarvand

TRIBECA CINEMA360

The Cinema360 includes four programs that play twice daily, including:

Horizons:

02:09 (World Premiere) – Sweden, China Project Creator: Svante Fjaestad In three minutes, the world will end. The rich have already left Earth for the New Colonies; those who couldn’t afford private shuttles into orbit remain stranded, like the now-worthless banknotes on the streets. A couple wait together on a rooftop, contemplating their fate, while, in front of them, the last human refugees leave the planet before it is too late. Cast: Chen Dong Hong, Xie Hong Together (New York Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Terrence Malick, The Factory at Facebook, Movement Art Is Together fuses storytelling, dance and technology, placing the viewer in the center of a stirring, emotional narrative that explores the power of human connection. Working with Movement Art Is co-founders Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, Palme d’Or winning director Terrence Malick has crafted an immersive experience about breaking down barriers that is brilliantly brought to life through choreography.

It’s Right Behind You:

Campfire Creepers: The Skull of Sam (North American Premiere) – Spain, USA Project Creator: Alexandre Aja Key Collaborators: Casey Cooper Johnson, Martin Andersen French horror auteur Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension) directs this creepy tale of a couple who encounters a vicious stranger in the woods, who has plans to add them to his rather unique collection. But by injecting humor into this horrific scenario, the experience invites audiences to laugh between the screams. Cast: Robert Englund [caption id="attachment_27430" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Caretaker[/caption] The Caretaker (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Jacob Wasserman, Nicolas Pesce, Adam Donald Key Collaborators: Hidden Content, RealMotion VFX After their car breaks down on the side of the road on a cold winter night, a couple checks into a strange hotel while they wait for a mechanic to arrive. When the woman’s boyfriend suddenly goes missing—the latest in a series of unsettling occurrences within the hotel—she begins to suspect that something more sinister is at work. An Obituary (boogo) (US Premiere) – South Korea Project Creator: Jean Yoon Key Collaborators: Kuk- seok Yang, Jin-hee Kim A young man travels alone deep into the countryside to pay his respects after hearing of a friend’s untimely death. Upon his arrival, he finds himself to be the sole mourner at the funeral. Alone in the country, save for the elderly mother of his deceased friend, he begins to wonder why they seem to be the only two people left in the village. Cast: Tae-kyung Oh, Yong-nyeo Lee.

This is Climate Change:

This is Climate Change (World Premiere) – Åland Islands, Brazil, Greenland, Somalia, USA Project Creator: Eric Strauss, Danfung Dennis Key Collaborators: Diana El-Osta (Producer), Catherine Yrisarri (Producer), Jeff Skoll (Executive Producer), Elise Pearlstein (Executive Producer), Kathy Davidov (Executive Producer), Casey Brown (Executive Producer) In this expansive new four-part virtual reality docu-series from Participant Media and Condition One, journey to the far corners of the earth to discover the people and places being hit hardest by climate change. This Is Climate Change offers an immersive look into our new reality of catastrophic weather events that are displacing communities and transforming landscapes with alarming speed.

VR For Good Creators Lab:

Meeting a Monster (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Gabriela Arp Key Collaborators: Oculus VR for Good, Life After Hate Through audio recordings and re-enactments, former white supremacist Angela King relives the memories of, and motivations behind, the eight years she spent inside the white power movement—and the path she took to get out. While the monsters of Angela’s past define the years she spent mired in hate, she finds redemption only after acknowledging the ultimate monster: herself. Cast: Belle Emilie Gold, Jerry Edwards, Diana Mitchell, Skye Waller, Aidan Shields, Toia Johnson She Flies by Her Own Wings (World Premiere) – USA Project Creator: Jesse (Jesus) Ayala Key Collaborators: Oculus VR for Good, Pride Foundation, Fovrth Studios, Flight School She Flies by Her Own Wings depicts the inspiring story of Shannon Scott, who chose to stand up when her community, the U.S. armed services’ proud transgender service members and veterans, was under attack by President Donald Trump. Having enlisted before she could vote, Shannon has dedicated her entire adult life to defending and safeguarding American citizens at home and abroad. Cast: Shannon Scott The Hidden (World Premiere) – India, USA Project Creator: Lindsay Branham Key Collaborators: International Justice Mission, Oculus VR for Good There are currently more people living in slavery than at any other time in human history. One such family has been enslaved in a rock quarry in southern India for 10 years—over a paltry debt of $70 USD. Indian government representatives, supported by the human rights group International Justice Mission, plot a daring raid to free the family.

Read more