Venice Immersive Island: 44 VR Projects at the 80th Venice Film Festival

The 80th Venice International Film Festival hosts Venice Immersive Island, a VR showcase on a two-hectare island near Lido di Venezia, housed in the historic first lazzaretto. The event features 44 projects from 25 countries, including 28 in competition, 10 out of competition, and 6 developed during Biennale College Cinema, plus 24 synthetic worlds in the Worlds Gallery. The exhibition runs until September 9. Highlights include Celine Daemen's 'Songs for a Passerby,' which explores the connection between physical and metaphysical worlds; 'Tulpamancer' by Marc Da Costa and Matthew Niederhauser, using AI for personalized meditation based on Buddhist tulpa concepts; 'Peupler' by Maya Mouawad and Cyril Laurier, a shared immersive experience about tree lymphatic connections; 'Forager,' which lets users experience life as a fungus; 'Aufwind,' a VR short about early female aviators Charlotte Möhring and Melli Beese; 'Body of Mine' by Cameron Kostopoulos, addressing gender dysphoria through full-body VR; and 'Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway,' a 60-minute interactive VR experience by Aardman Animations, 23 years after 'Chicken Run.'