Cannes Film Festival finally revealed the nine works that form part of the its Immersive Competition, whose 3rd edition will take place from May 12 to 22 at the Carlton Hotel.
From large-scale video projections to virtual reality experiences, this selection showcases the vitality of an evolving art form that constantly reinvents how stories are created, shared and experienced.
This year, the Immersive Competition will feature a new technical setup specifically designed for collective viewing, in a space reconfigured to accommodate 80 to 225 spectators simultaneously. Selected works will be presented on rotation in this 450 m² venue, suitable for hosting a wide range of formats, from cutting-edge VR experiences to large-scale video mapping.
The selected Immersive Works
Among these, it’s significant the presence of an Italian work: Red Planet 3009, that takes us on a mission to Mars in the future, to explore what it could look like in 3009, and what we could have left behind. It is directed by Mariano Leotta and Francesco Fiore, it is produced by Alter Agent.
United Kingdom and France are the ones with most projects, some of which in co-production.Â
The Pirate Queen:no Safe Waters by Eloise Singer, starring Lucy Liu, is the latest instalment in London-based Singer Studios’ award-winning Pirate Queen, which was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Emerging Media Program. It is inspired by the true story of Cheng Shih, the woman who commanded the largest pirate fleet in history.Â
Another UK title is Gawd V. The People, directed by Yamil Rodriguez, Ivan Alejandro Diaz Cardenas, Stephen Henderson and produced by Nilor Studio.
With Katábasis, Ugo Arsac, a digital and visual artist based in Marseille, guides us into the city’s hidden veins — spaces known by people rarely seen: unhoused souls, unseen laborers, abyssal poets, seekers of the invisible. It is produced by Zorba.
Inaugurated at the Musée de la musique in Paris in November 2025, Playing with Fire by Pierre-Alain Giraud, is a visual, musical, and olfactory experience that blends augmented and virtual reality to celebrate the brilliance of Yuja Wang, an internationally acclaimed Chinese-American pianist.
It is produced by VIVE Arts, Atlas V, a co-production between UK, France and Taiwan.
Asia is present also with South Korea (the project is Voooooo – – – Peeeeee – – – by Hyeunjoo Woo, Jiyun Park. Produced by Ubac Studio) and the Philippines (Yellowfin by E del Mundo. Produced by Screen Asia, Create Cinema).
In the Portuguese project Lúcido by Vier Produced by COLA Animation, a young man learns to control his dreams with the help of his boyfriend. Spanish creators David Bardos and Damià Ferrà ndiz combine AI and virtual reality in The Black Mirror Experience, produced by Banijay Live and Univrse.
