Extended reality evolves at the Venice Film Festival
This year, the Venice Film Festival took a notable step forward with its Venice Immersive (VI) section, which started before the main opening gala. A short boat journey from the festival’s core, VI was held on the tiny island of Lazzaretto Vecchio and offered a variety of extended reality (XR) projects that offered viewers a glimpse into the future of filmmaking. Instead of traditional films, VI featured installations, experimental videos, and virtual worlds, connecting the event to Venice’s rich film history.
VI began in 2017, started by Michel Reilhac and Liz Rosenthal to bring together traditional cinema and the growing immersive arts scene. This year, that goal was clearly visible, as well-known directors and XR creators worked side by side. The presence of Doug Liman, who directed The Bourne Identity, and Edward Berger, director of Conclave, showed that established filmmakers are taking immersive storytelling seriously. Meanwhile, immersive artists have learned from cinema’s storytelling techniques, showing a new level of maturity compared to earlier, more experimental XR projects.
The 2025 VI program stood out for its variety, with 69 projects chosen from almost 450 submissions worldwide. These works ranged widely in length and style. For example, The Big Cube by Menghui Huang is a short, seven-minute VR animation, while The Midnight Walk by Olov Redmalm and Klaus Lyngeled lasts six hours and offers an interactive fantasy experience. Other highlights included Blur by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg, which explores AI cloning, Wayne McGregor’s mixed reality dance piece On the Other Earth, and Singing Chen’s The Clouds are Two Thousand Meters Up. This last piece, based on a story by Taiwanese writer Wu Ming-Yi, was praised for matching the impact of traditional cinema while keeping its own unique qualities.
The VI program used labels like immersive film, mixed reality, and installations to help newcomers, but these categories also raised questions about whether they limit how people see the medium. Reilhac said immersive work is both a step forward for cinema and its own art form, and that strict categories may not be helpful anymore. This year’s festival showed that the field is growing by mixing influences and breaking old boundaries.
Rosenthal added that immersive art combines many creative practices, like live performance, gaming, and film techniques. It is not about picking one medium, but about blending them into new experiences. This mix was clear in VI’s line-up, showing how much immersive work has grown since it started and how it now stands alongside traditional cinema at a major film festival.
By presenting such an eclectic body of work, the Venice Film Festival reaffirmed its role not only as a platform for global cinema but also as a testing ground for new artistic frontiers. VI’s showcase of XR art demonstrated that immersive storytelling has matured into a credible and influential strand of contemporary culture. For audiences and creators alike, the message was clear: the boundary between cinema and extended reality is rapidly dissolving, and in that convergence lies the possibility of a new artistic future.
