This weekend catch a screening of over 38 short films presented entirely in virtual reality.
VR social platform AltspaceVR has teamed up with veteran film festival organizers Cyberia to generously bring us an impressively-packed independent short film festival this weekend. The really cool part however, is that the whole vent will be conducted within virtual reality.
Taking place today through Sunday, the Cyberia Film Festival is making history as the first conventionally-styled film fest to be held entirely in virtual reality. After registering over at Cyberia Film Festival in VR (100% free), users will be instructed on how to access this weekend’s screening of 38 short films collected from across the globe using a VR headset such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or Samsung Gear VR. If attendees don’t have access to a head-mounted display, they can simply view the experience on a standard desktop in 2D.
The films will be shown to the audience on giant HD monitors within the AltspaceVR virtual platform, much like how the software’s users normally enjoy their video content. While conversations between attendees will be muted during actual screenings to allow for a pleasant viewing experience, the audience will be allowed to discuss their opinions with each other in-between the films all without taking off their headsets. According to the festival’s schedule, which i’ll include below, a film is set to screen every hour or quarter hour depending on the individual lengths. A moderated Q&A with the filmmakers will also be conducted following each screening. I’m assuming this will all be done with the host and interviewees each taking control of their own Altspace Avatar’s.
Here’s a list of the films you can expect to see:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH
6:00 PM – Quenottes (Pearlies)
6:15 PM – Cycle
6:30 PM – Devil Snail/Worm Food
6:45 PM – Star Wars: The Secret of Tatooine – A Fan Film
7:00 PM – Horseshoe Theory
7:15 PM – Goutte d’Or
7:30 PM – Birds with Human heads
7:45 PM – New Soul
8:00 PM – Attractive Force
8:15 PM – dark_net
8:30 PM – Zinda – The Living Souls [followed by a Q&A with director’s representative, Dr. Hassan Zee]
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH
5:00 PM – The Suit [followed by Q&A with director Dave Conte]
5:30 PM – Jef Needs Ice Cream
5:45 PM – I Dare You
6:00 PM – It’s a Date
6:15 PM – Lure
6:30 PM – Object [followed by Q&A with filmmakers DISCIPLE]
7:00 PM – HETJA 2 [followed by Q&A with director Michael Jordan]
7:30 PM – Zerch
7:45 PM – Three HP Lovecraft Films
8:00 PM – Kong’s
8:15 PM – Story 304
8:45 PM – Smirnoff Sound Collective – Tribes (Episode 3): Dirtybird
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH
11:00 AM – Cruel Forgiveness
11:15 AM – Knock!
11:30 AM – Riptide Rhapsody
11:45 AM – EEL/EARWORM
12:00 PM – What If We Got Off on the Wrong Foot [followed by Q&A with director Bo! Campbell]
12:30 PM – Night of the Slasher
12:45 PM – A Spring Before Winter
1:00 PM – Harbinger
1:15 PM – Experiments in Non-Cinema
1:30 PM – Scary Little Fuckers
2:00 PM – Synchronous
2:15 PM – Qubitpunk
2:30 PM – Palmer’s Pickup [followed by Q&A with director Christopher Coppola]
While the primary goal of this festival is to promote a select group of talent filmmakers, it’s important to realize that this is also a groundbreaking moment for virtual reality. The Cyberia Film Festival could be a shining example of how VR is capable of bringing people all across the world together to share a single, unique experience. Based on how the event is laid out, it’s fairly obvious the organizers are out to prove the practicality of hosting traditional-format film festivals in virtual reality.
Who knows, if all goes well we could potentially see a whole series of popular events taking place within the virtual world. I mean, if a complex film festival consisting of over 30 films, each with moderated live interviews can be handled entirely in virtual reality, imagine what else could be done…
