2018 best film award
Out of a selection of 20 films - documentaries, fiction, creation and young audience - the jury, chaired by Marie Gillain, singled out “Treehugger”: Wawona" by MARSHMALLOW LASER FEAST! Shown for the first time in France, the installation “Treehugger: Wawona” takes you right inside a giant sequoia tree. You become a particle of water and travel up the tree from roots to tip following the vital cycle of photosynthesis.
2018 Jury’s Favourite award:
The jury’s favourite was “Dinner Party”, directed by Angel Manuel Soto and produced by Skybound Entertainment and RYOT: a virtual-reality experience in 3D based on the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who in 1961 reported the first known abduction by extraterrestrials in the United States. When the Hills were unable to recall and bring together the details of an inexplicable event, they tried hypnosis. During a dinner party, they played back the recording of the hypnosis to their friends. Viewers can thus relive the distinct and radically different tales of the Hills’ abduction.
The festival continues until 26 August. There is still more than a month left to be pleasantly surprised by the 20 selected films.
BNP Paribas and cinema
Founded in 2016 by BNP Paribas, Fisheye and Rencontres d’Arles photography festival, VR Arles Festival fully immerses audiences in the best virtual reality productions on the planet. As the bank for a changing world, BNP Paribas quite naturally decided to support these initiatives so that audiences can discover the films of tomorrow. With the emergence of new uses, the Group wants more than ever to support cinema in its development and new consumer modes like Virtual Reality, in collaboration with MK2 VR and the VR Arles Festival.