VR Day

This screening has gone TO RUSH. Advance tickets are not available at this time, though tickets are likely to be released on the day of the screening.

Immerse yourself in contemporary cinema and cutting-edge production technology at VR Day, a pilot program at this year’s Festival designed to showcase emergent storytellers in virtual reality filmmaking. Held at Gray Area Art + Technology—one of the nation’s leading electronic arts and performance venues—this day-long program will bring together leading artists creating VR work that propels the medium forward while addressing social and cultural issues.

Ticket holders can sign up for one hour slots to experience the newest VR stories on Samsung Gear VR headsets. Attendees are also welcome to come and go throughout the day to stop in for both Artist Panels and to engage with other VR experiences from Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, Nokia and Samsung Mobile.

Doors will open at 11:00 am and close at 8:00 pm. Below find details about the day's Artist Panels:

4:00 pm Artist Panel
Speakers include James Kaelan and Eve Cohen of Seed&Spark, Peter Lord of Aardman Animations, Eric Darnell of Baobob Studios and moderator Saschka Unseld, founder of Oculus Story Studio

7:00 pm Artist Panel
Speakers include Graham Roberts of New York Times VR, filmmaker Lynette Wallworth, Oculus Story Studio founder Saschka Unseld and moderator Ramzi Haidamus, President of Nokia Technologies

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Featured VR films and stories will include:

Collisions
A work of stunning visuals and powerful narrative, Collisions tells the story of Aboriginal elder Nyarri Nyarri Morgan who lived as 1000 generations before him in the remote Pilbara desert of Western Australia—until his life was dramatically impacted by a collision with the extreme edge of Western science and technology.
(Lynette Wallworth; Samsung Gear)

Henry
A film by Oculus Story Studio founder Saschka Unseld.
(Saschka Unseld; Oculus Rift)

Invasion!
From the director of Madagascar comes interactive animated film Invasion!, the story of menacing aliens that come to take over the earth and destroy anyone that tries to stop them.
(Eric Darnell; Samsung Gear)

Lost
A film by Oculus Story Studio founder Saschka Unseld.
(Saschka Unseld; Oculus Rift)

Nomad: Sea Gypsies
An encounter with the Sama-Bajau people who have lived on the sea along the coasts of Borneo for centuries.
(Felix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphael; Samsung Gear)

Notes On Blindness: Into Darkness
Notes On Blindness: Into Darkness uses new forms of storytelling, gameplay mechanics and VR to explore one man's cognitive and emotional experience of blindness. Each scene addresses a memory, a moment and a specific location from the man’s audio diary, using binaural audio and real time 3D animations to create a fully immersive experience in a world beyond sight.
(Peter Middleton, James Spinney; Samsung Gear)

Seeking Pluto's Frigid Heart
Using historic data collected billions of miles away by NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute, we've created a stereoscopic virtual reality experience that will bring viewers to Pluto.
(Graham Roberts; Samsung Gear)

Special Delivery
A short film directed by the co-founder of Aardman Animations (Wallace And Gromit, Shaun the Sheep).
(Peter Lord; Google Cardboard)

The Visitor
In this work of philosophical horror, at an austere compound in the desert a woman waits for her greatest fear to materialize.
(James Kaelan, Eve Cohen, Blessing Yen; Google Cardboard)

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

This program is special collaboration with The New York Times VR.

Major thanks to presenting sponsor Nokia, and suppoting sponsors Oculus, Samsung Mobile & Huawei Mobile.