VR Film Festivals/Awards Calendar 2018
List of film and VR festivals/Markets/Awards/Events worth applying/visiting if you produce a 360/VR Cinematic content.
Of course, it’s quite ambitious to create VR Film Festival Calendar, but worth trying to get the overall idea of where cinematic VR is moving. Colleagues from VeeR VR had already published material of the same kind, so I wanted to take a closer look to some of the events, as well as to add few more.
This material would be updated throughout a year, but at the moment that’s the current information about the festivals/awards where Cinematic VR might be showcased (based on the events in 2017 and current information). Some of the events are not yet described but were added to the list. Also, January events like Sundance Film Festival — New Frontier and VR Fest are not mentioned, but worth checking for sure!
FEBRUARY, 2018
BERLINALE (Berlin Film Festival), European Film Market
Location: Berlin, Germany
Dates: 15–25 February
Web site: https://www.berlinale.de
What to expect: The 360° VR Screenings will be presented at the new screening venue “VR Cinema at Marriott”, which provides the ideal infrastructure to present VR content, thanks to INVR. The new screening venue “VR Cinema at Marriott” is equipped with state-of-the-art technology using Samsung7 VR gear and provides the ideal infrastructure to present VR content, thanks to our cooperation partner INVR.
“VR Cinema at Marriott” is located right next to Berliner Freiheit, where the latest developments in the field of VR will be presented at the EFM VR NOW SUMMIT.
VR NOW SUMMIT: Feb, 18
Web site: www.vrnowcon.io
The EFM VR NOW Summit in Berlin (Berliner Freiheit, February 18, 2018) shows how film, television and immersive media like Virtual Reality and 360 video are coming together. Get excited about how entertainment advances today. Get inspired by fantastic stories and opinions of international VR figure heads. Connect with content creators, producers and IP owners from both worlds. Get your own project started.
Cinequest Film&VR Festival
Location: San Jose and Redwood City, CA, USA
Dates: Feb 27 — Mar 11
Web site: http://www.cinequest.org/
14 VR Films, 14 VR Experiences and 5 VR workshops would be held during the Cinequest Film&VR Festival in San Jose and Redwood City
ADVANCED IMAGING SOCIETY Lumiere Awards
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: 12 Feb
Web site: http://theadvancedimagingsociety.com/lumiereawards/
The Lumiere™ Awards recognize outstanding international achievement in the creation of immersive storytelling using advanced visual technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, High Dynamic Range, Stereo 3D, 360 Video, High Frame Rate, Artificial Intelligence, Real-Time Rendering and more. The Society honors content and experiences produced for film, television, advertising, gaming, mobile, online and much more. Past Lumiere winners includes some of Hollywood’s biggest creative leaders, such as Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Victoria Alonso, Jon Favreau, and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
14th Annual Boulder International Film Festival
Location: Boulder, CO, USA
Date: Feb 22–25
Web site: https://biff1.com/
The Boulder International Film Festival brings films and filmmakers from around the world to Boulder for a four-day celebration of the art of cinema. IN 2017 Virtual Reality Pavillion was presented at the festival — https://biff1.com/vr/
MARCH 2018
SXSW (South by Southwest Film Festival)
Austin, TX, USA
9–18 March
Web site/VR program: would be published here
VR/AR Track (Conference): https://www.sxsw.com/conference/vr-ar/
The SXSW Virtual Cinema provides an opportunity to launch Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality projects to our unique audiences built out of Film, Tech and Music industry leaders, as well as lovers of all things entertainment and tech. VR/AR/MR films, games, and interactive projects include a total runtime or viewing time of 40 minutes or less.
Program of the previous year: https://vrfilmreview.ru/vr-films-sxsw-2017-cf46ead9afb2
Tampere Film Festival
Location: Tampere, Finland
Dates: 7–11 March
Web site: https://tamperefilmfestival.fi/in-english/side-programme/open-eyes-2018/
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality screenings and seminar program at Festival Center and Werstas Auditorium, Finlayson area.
Open R Talks! will offer an extensive overview of this past AR/VR year and envision the future of mixed reality storytelling. See schedule.
Open R Lounge! gives you the opportunity to experience the most beautiful and daring VR and AR works.
Open R Beta! booth lets you watch films with new industry innovations that enhance the viewing experience of 360° content and make it easier to share them with the public. Part of DDD60 project.
CPH DOX (Inter:Active Section)
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Dates: 15.03–25.03.2018
Web site: https://cphdox.dk/en/programme/categories-themes/?ser=87
Following last years big success, the exhibition INTER:ACTIVE will once again take place at Kunsthal Charlottenborg at CPH:DOX. The exhibition will include some of the best interactive and immersive installations and VR films out there. The exhibition will run through the whole festival March 15–25 2018. INTER:ACTIVE is curated with CopenX, and presented in collaboration with B&O, Samsung, Khora VR, Khora Contemporary, World of VR, Showtime VR and Plant København. With support from the Danish Arts Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. All installations are free of charge and one VR:CINEMA ticket costs 30 DKK.
APRIL 2018
LICHTER VR Storytelling competition
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Dates: 04–08 April
Web site: http://www.lichter-filmfest.de/en/home/news.html?news_id=480
Deadline: 2 Feb
MIPTV: Immersive Content // Innovation Hub
Location: Cannes, France
Dates: 9–12 April
Web site: http://www.miptv.com/visit/
Immersive content would be one of the tracks of the biggest TV market in the world with the mission to turn AR/VR into a sustainable content ecosystem. Accredited visitors could also apply with their VR content to Innovation Hub VR Library before 19 February.
Located in the heart of MIPTV’s Innovation Hub, the VR Library is the hottest place to promote your immersive content and reach the biggest international audience of entertainment professionals, as they stop by to screen over the 4 days of MIPTV. Powered by Diversion Cinema
Information about previous year: https://mipblog.com/2017/06/how-vr-moved-forwards-miptv/
GoEast Open Frame Award
Location: Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany
Dates: 18–24 April
The deadline for entries is 15 February 2018.
Web site: http://www.filmfestival-goeast.de/en/news/2017/171208_Call_for_Entries.php
GoEast invites submissions for its Experimental Virtual Reality Competition. It intends to encourage the work of young and emerging artists of up to 35 years of age, working in or between the fields of experimental media and visual art.
Up to 8 works will be nominated to contend for the Open Frame Award endowed with 5,000 euros provided by the BHF-BANK Foundation. The
selected works will be presented in a double exhibition: first at the German Filmmuseum in Frankfurt and after that at the Museum Wiesbaden. All participating directors and artists will be invited to Frankfurt and Wiesbaden.
Tribeca Film Festival
Location: New York, NY, USA
Dates: 18–29 April
Web site: https://tribecafilm.com/festival/submissions#immersive
Tribeca exhibits immersive projects throughout the festival to showcase new forms and uses of media, highlighting innovation across a variety of platforms. These may range from virtual reality projects to cross-platform films, websites, multi-media installations, games and apps. Submissions will be considered for the Tribeca Storyscapes section and the Virtual Arcade (for mobile and tethered VR projects). Selected works will be presented to the public at the 17th Annual Tribeca Film Festival (the “TFF18”).
2º BARCELONA 360 VIRTUAL REALITY FEST
Barcelona, Spain
27–28 April
Web site: http://360vrfest.pro/
2nd Barcelona 360 Virtual Reality Fest is the first cinema festival of Virtual Reality carried out in Spain, where the quality and innovation of the VR short films will be awarded. The festival will be held at Barcelona’s Museum of Design the 27th and 28th of April 2018.
The contest is organized by Paramotion Films, a company which staged the 3D Wire, the most important professional market of animation, video games and new media celebrated in Spain and one of the most significant at European level — and by Mecal Association, which arranges Mecal, the Barcelona International Short Film and Animation Festival.
LET’S CEE FILM FESTIVAL
Location: Vienna, Austria
Dates: 13–22 April
Web site: https://www.letsceefilmfestival.com/news-detail-en/items/548.html
Thanks to the support of renowned partners such as United Nations, Greenpeace International, Stanford University, USC Shoah Foundation, WIDE, the production company Mimo.ooo, the British daily The Guardian and Cineplexx International, LET’S CEE sets up two VR lounges at 4GAMECHANGERS Festival in Marx-Halle (18–20 April) as well as at Village Cinema Wien Mitte (21–22 April), showing high-quality, visually powerful, socio-political cinema.
Emmy Award — Outstanding Interactive Media — Original Daytime Program or Series
MAY 2018
NEXT Marche Du Film // Cannes Film Festival
Location: Cannes, France
Dates: 8–19 May
Web site: http://www.marchedufilm.com/en/
Last year Marche du Film, industrial part of the 70th Cannes Film Festival scaled it’s initiative NEXT from the small pavilion with VR Cinema to a huge hub inside the Palais des Festivals. More about last year NEXT Marche Du Film — https://vrfilmreview.ru/next-first-market-for-virtual-reality-e67607f085f2
Information about submissions and market for 2018 year would be updated.
VR SCI FEST
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Dates: 17–20 May
Submissions: http://vrscifest.com/submit-vrsci-project/
Web Site: www.vrscifest.com
The second edition of the international festival dedicated to immersive technology in Science and Art.
If you are working with VR/AR and your project is related to Science, Education or general exploration of the World, please submit your project.
We would like to present the best projects during VR Sci Fest 2018, which will be held in Stockholm 17–20 of May.
The topic of VR Sci-Fest 2018: VIRTUAL CITY and all its elements: architecture, transport, factories, media, nature, traveling and people.
Previous edition of the festival: https://vrfilmreview.ru/science-film-and-360-will-meet-at-vr-scientific-festival-in-sweden-e47d6f1f5573
VANCOUVER VIRTUAL REALITY FILM FESTIVAL
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Date: 18–20 May
Web site: http://yvrff.com/
Deadline: March 31, 2018
YVRFF is the premier VR film festival in Western Canada, cultivating a strong community of VR filmmakers and enthusiasts from across the globe. YVRFF aims to make VR accessible to anyone with an interest or passion in virtual reality.
VIS Vienna Shorts
Location: Vienna, Austria
Dates: May 29 — Jun 04, 2018
Late deadline: Jan 31, 2018
Web site: https://www.viennashorts.com/
The 15th edition of the festival debuts a brand new competition segment dedicated to virtual reality. There are no limitations in relation to genre, what we are interested in are pieces under 30 minutes that explore the possibilities of the medium in ways which challenge our most basic perceptions and ideas about visual language, storytelling, participation and voyeurism.
Webby Award
Award Ceremony: 18th May
There are 8 nominations where VR could win.
Each work nominated to the award, organised by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS), could win two awards: The Webby Jury (Academy) Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award.
You can find official winners at WEBBY AWARDS Web site (https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2018/film-video/)
Nashville Film Festival
Dates: May 10–19, 2018
Web site: https://nashvillefilmfestival.org/vr-competition/
JUNE 2018
Beat Film Festival
Location: Moscow, Russia
Dates: 1–8 June, 2018
Web site: http://fest.beatfilmfestival.ru/news/vr/
From 1 June to 8 June at the Karo October Beat Film Festival will create a pop-up movie theater VR Cinema powered by Tinkoff, which will feature three programs: VR Music, VR Visual Arts and VR Interactive. VR Cinema powered by Tinkoff is organized as a cinema space for 30 spectators, in which sessions are held every hour. To organize such synchronization in the VR-cinema used the system Virtual Reality Content Manager, developed by a technical partner, the Russian studio for new media Great Gonzo Studio.
Transilvania International Film Festival
Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dates: May 25 — June, 2018
Web site: http://tiff.ro/
The infiniTIFF VR Cinema presents a groundbreaking and wide ranging selection of VR content, including both new works and modern classics of Virtual Reality.
Over 15 experiences in fiction, non-fiction and animation will provide the audience with opportunities to further explore the artistic and narrative potential of this new and challenging storytelling medium.
Of particular note is Full Moon VR, a specialized section of programming dedicated exclusively to the horror genre.
World VR Forum
Location: Crans-Montana, Switzerland
Dates: 7–10 June, 2018
Web site: https://wvrf18.worldvrforum.com/en/home/
The WVRF Annual Summit’s Conferences are the culmination of a year-round work, bringing together all the expertise of the team and its advisors to provide participants with an editorial of the highest quality. Broadcasted live on our Youtube channel, all the debates take place in the conference room of the Le Régent Congress Center available on WVRF Replay a few weeks after the event. During 3 days, workshops for professionals will be organized by the WVRF on specific topics of importance for the Virtual and Augmented Reality market: VR Web, Space Computing, Writing VR scenarios, post production of 360 ° videos, spatialized sound, Stitching and more.
Sheffield Doc/Fest
Location: Sheffield, UK
Dates: 7–12 June
Web site: https://sheffdocfest.com/view/armarket
Alternate Realities Exhibition for completed works
(Standard Deadline: 9 February 2018; Late Deadline: 2 March 2018),
see: https://sheffdocfest.com/view/submissions
The Alternate Realities Market is Sheffield’s flagship forum for connecting creators with new ideas for digital, interactive, cross-platform and virtual reality works of non-fiction storytelling with a wide range of industry Decision Makers from companies looking to support such works. Companies who attend the Alternate Realities Market include Google, ARTE, BBC Digital, Digital Catapult, The Guardian, New York Times, POV, Submarine Channel, Tribecca, MK2 VR, the National Film Board of Canada, Inception VR, Jaunt VR, National Geographic, National Theatre, Parable VR — plus many other companies and NGOs looking to work with innovative storytellers.
Annecy Festival (VR@ANNECY)
Location: Annecy, France
Dates: 11–16 June, 2018
Web-site: https://www.annecy.org/festival/vr-annecy:en
Virtual reality, presented in the Special Programmes at Annecy 2016, is now part of the Official Selection with a dedicated category: VR@ANNECY.
Each day, there will be two new projects in the Salle de création with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear headsets at your disposal for the occasion. Google Spotlight Stories and Google VR are the official partners of the VR@ANNECY sessions.
JULY 2018
AUGUST 2018
Melbourne International Film Festival
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Dates: 2–19 August, 2018
Web site: http://miff.com.au/vr
Virtual Reality returns to MIFF in 2018 to continue rewriting the frontiers of storytelling! Featuring a program of local and international narrative, documentary and animated experiential works, it’s time again to strap on a headset and prepare to experience the jaw-dropping potential of total immersive cinema.
Toronto International Film Festival
Bienalle, Venice Film Festival — Venice VR
Location: Venice, Italy
Dates: 29 August — 8 September, 2018
Deadline: 15 June, 2018
Web site: http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2018/regulations
SEPTEMBER 2018
Haifa Film Festival
Location: Haifa, Israel
Dates: 22 September — 01 October, 2018
Web-site: https://www.haifaff.co.il/eng/Events/3754/Haifa_VR_2525
Raindance Film Festival
Location: London, UK
Dates: 26 September — 7 October, 2018
Web-site: https://www.raindance.org/
Emmy Award — Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within A Scripted Program // Outstanding Original Interactive Program
OCTOBER 2018
Adelaide Film Festival
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Dates: 10–21 October 2018
Deadline: June 8th, 2018
Late entry fee: $65 Australian (around $50 USD)
Web site: https://adelaidefilmfestival.org/about-adl-film-fest/submissions/
The ADL Film Fest was the first Australian film festival to host an international competition for VR works. We seek to bring the best of such a vibrant and diverse platform to our local audiences. Last year the award went to NOTHING HAPPENS, directed by Michelle and Uri Kranot from Denmark. Among other works that were also presented in competition were BLOODLESS, MELITA and MY NAME IS PETER STILLMAN.
Hyper Virtual Reality Festival Brazil 2018
Location: São Paulo, Brasil
Dates: 27 October, 2018
Web site: https://www.hypervrfestival.com/
The Proto Award
Festival du Nouveau Cinema
Location: Montreal, Canada
Dates: 3–14 October, 2018
Deadline: 15 June, 2018
Web site: http://nouveaucinema.ca/en/submissions
VR Days
Astra Film Festival
22nd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
NOVEMBER 2018
Geneva International Film Festival
Dates: 2–10 November
Deadline: 20 August 2018
Web site: http://www.giff.ch/site/en/the-festival
Since 2014, the Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) has presented a programme of international VR works. Since 2016, this programme includes a competitive section with ten immersive works (virtual reality, augmented reality or mixed reality) that are selected, then presented to a specialized Jury of directors, digital creators and producers from all over the world. The VR Jury awards a Reflet d’Or to the best immersive work, worth CHF 10’000 donated by the City of Geneva.
- works must have already been shown or will be shown/broadcast in 2017–2018.
- works need a Swiss premiere status in festivals to be part of the international competition. Works entered cannot have been shown in events/festivals in Switzerland before 11 November 2018.
All genre are welcome — documentary, fiction, cinema, animation and installation — as long as the work has its own narrative dimension and a interactive and/or immersive aspect. Coherence and pertinence between the content, the storytelling and the experience are the deciding factors in the selection process.
SATIS Screen4All Film Festival
Dates 6–7 November
Deadine: 2 October 2018
IDFA Doc Lab
Dates: November 14–25, 2018
Deadline: 1 August 2018
LISTAPAD Minsk International Film Festival
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
DECEMBER 2018
BOGOTÁ SHORT FILM FESTIVAL / FESTIVAL DE CORTOS DE BOGOTÁ — BOGOSHORTS 2018
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Dates: 4–11 December, 2018
Deadline: 8 August, 2018
Link: http://bit.ly/Conv16BSFF
BOGOSHORTS is an annual festival that turns Bogotá (Colombia) into the world capital of short films for a week in early December. This event brings together the best of the world’s young short film production, in competitive, thematic and retrospective sections, complemented with the industry activities of the BFM — BOGOSHORTS Film Market, academic events, artistic and gastronomic exhibitions in more than 20 venues in the city, for the national and international promotion and projection of new talents in short filmmaking and for the enjoyment of an audience that can discover all the possibilities of this format. The call for entries is open for 2D and 3D short films produced in 360° from every country of the world, for a chance to win the Saint Lucía, the festival’s official statuette.
15th Dubai International Film Festival
