Mediterrane Film Festival
Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival - taking place from 22nd June to 30th June 2024 in Valletta - has selected 13 immersive virtual reality projects for its Future Visions programme strand, which is headed up by the independent interactive story architect Michel Reilhac. The international projects will span 360 Videos, VR Standalone and Immersive Installation categories – sitting under the Mediterrane Film Festival’s overall theme for 2024: "Unity through Film".
Michel Reilhac is an immersive storyteller, making films in Virtual Reality, creating participatory experiences in real life and across media. The Future Visions strand will award one prize from the works across different categories – which will be judged by a specialised jury, among them Allison Crank - a UX designer and researcher who specializes in crafting interactive and inclusive stories using new media as well as Alina Mikhaleva – founder of Less Media Group to drive change in the media industry and utilize technologies to create deep human connections.
Teresa Cavina, Artistic Director of Mediterrane Film Festival, said: “One of our goals is to honour the multi-faceted and dynamic nature of cinema, so we’re proud to be working with the formidable Michel Reilhac – who is a pioneer in this field – and to bring audiences a wide range of projects to truly immerse them in the world of storytelling. The selection of boundary-pushing projects Michel has curated showcases the global talent from the fast-growing world of virtual reality, in both an artistic and technological sense.”
Michel Reilhac, Future Visions Curator and also Head of Studies for the Venice Biennale College, said: “Complementing the prestigious line up of excellent international films in the festival with a new program of immersive narrative experiences is proof of how forward-looking the festival and the Malta Film Commission are. Immersive experiences engage us in a very powerful new way, expanding the cinema setting in new directions, and there is nothing more exciting than experiencing the birth of a new art form in the making - welcome to Future Visions!”
Malta Film Commissioner, Johann Grech, stated: “Through Future Visions we are aspiring to create a forward-looking platform that showcases extended reality, virtual reality and cinematic forms of the future - a platform which fosters dialogue and opportunities between both established and emerging filmmakers across the Mediterranean and beyond.”
FESTIVAL AGENDA
Future Visions is one of the festival’s four programming strands, which also include Main Competition – featuring films from across the Mediterranean, Out of Competition – featuring films from the rest of the world, and Mare Nostrum, “Our Sea”, showcasing narrative and documentary films dedicated to sustainability and the environment.
Alongside screenings, the festival will include an industry strand with a series of panels and masterclasses, including the previously announced masterclass with Palme d’Or and BAFTA-winning writer-director Mike Leigh ("Vera Drake"), who is being recognised with the festival’s Career Achievement Golden Bee Award.