The virtual reality arts event: be a part of the VR Arles Festival 2017

21.06.2017

Following last year’s success, the VR Arles Festival is setting up for the summer months, from 3 July to 31 August, as part of the 2017 edition of the Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles. Some twenty virtual-reality films, including several interactive projects, will be shown during this second edition.

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The VR Arles Festival in figures:

days

50.000

visitors expected

films including several new releases

dedicated areas

The VR Arles Festival, the leading arts event in virtual reality, invites the public for a 360° discovery of cinema, documentaries and artistic creation. Spectators will be plunged into the midst of the world’s best virtual reality productions. The festival forms an integral part of the Rencontres d’Arles and will run for 11 weeks. BNP Paribas is the main sponsor for the second time round.

The jury:

The opening week, from 3 to 9 July, will be devoted to a competition with a jury that will meet in the Saint-Césaire centre on 4 and 5 July to award a prize of €10,000 to the best film among those selected. Film director and jury president Michel Hazanavicius will be joined by Valérie Donzelli (actress and film director), Mercedes Erra (Executive President of the Havas group), Elisha Karmitz (Head of mk2 Agency), Vincent Perez (actor and film director), Bertrand Cizeau (Global Head of Communication at BNP Paribas), Benoit Baume (President and CEO of Fisheye) and Olivier Mégean (President and CEO of Le Point).

“ THIS NEW LANGUAGE OF IMAGES, THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT WHAT YOU SEE AND WHAT YOU DON’T SEE, IN A WAY IS THE ESSENCE OF ANTI-PHOTOGRAPHY ”

Sam Stourdzé

Head of the Rencontres d’Arles for the second year

The selection

Freely available headsets will enable the general public and professionals, assisted by demonstrators, to discover a selection of 20 VR films.

Films by category:

Documentaries: the VR Arles Festival takes us on a tour of the White House in the company of Barack and Michelle Obama with "The People’s House : Inside the White House" ; discover alternative dwellings of the future in "Next Nature Habitat" ; follow in the footsteps of migrating herds in South Africa in "Exodus : The Great Migration" ; venture into an active war zone with "We Who Remain" ; take a museum walk through photos of the First World War with "Le Photographe inconnu" and enter into the details of a Velazquez painting with “Les Ménines de Diego Velazquez”.
Artistic works: "Night Fall" plunges the spectator into the fascinating world of the “white acts” of the ballets Swan Lake and La Bayadère ; Cirque du Soleil puts on a water show in "Dreams of O" ; "SENS VR" is the first virtual reality game inspired by a comic strip ; in "Empires", Chinese-born artist Huang Yong Ping lets us discover his work through a waking dream ; "Kinoscope" explores the masterpieces of cinema.
Fiction: the viewer is transported in the dreams of Alexandro with interferences from Elsa, an artificial intelligence in "Alteration" ; a pictorial stroll through the essence of memories with "Dear Angelica" ; the comic relationship between a family and their pet robot in "Miyubi" ; a burlesque variation around the ashes of a grandfather in "Ashes to Ashes" ; under a child’s bed where monsters hide in "Sergent James" ; on board the spaceship in distress of Mac & Cheez, two aliens in "Asteroids" ; a children’s short film made for Google Spotlight Stories, "Rain or Shine" ; and an animated film noir with surprising graphics: "Nothing Happens".

Talks and encounters with VR professionals will give film directors the chance to share thoughts with the public and reflect on the technical demands of VR. The programme will revolve around 4 themes: VR technique and dissemination; Writing fiction; Journalism in VR; and Artwork in VR.

Discover the complete program

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With BNP Paribas, cinema will continue to inspire you

2017 crowns a century-long history between BNP Paribas and cinema. 100 years of building a special relationship and nurturing shared values which eventually made BNP Paribas the European bank of the film industry. BNP Paribas more than ever wishes to support cinema in every step of its development and to offer audiences new consumer modes like Virtual Reality, through its partnership with mk2 VR and the VIR Arles Festival.