Three virtual reality (VR) films from Taiwan-based filmmakers were named on Thursday to be among the 30 VR or XR (extended reality) projects that will compete in the immersive section of the 79th Venice International Film Festival in Italy.
The three VR films from Taiwan are “Red Tail” by animator Fish Wang (???), theater director and multimedia artist Craig Quintero’s “All That Remains,” and “The Man Who Couldn’t Leave” directed by Singing Chen (???), according to an announcement from the film festival, which will run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10.
“The arrival of ‘Red Tail’ at Venice is perfect,” said Wang. “I’m very happy about it, and that is good enough for me.”
Wang, who won the Golden Horse Award for best short animation in 2019, recently received the jury’s “Special Mention Award” for “Red Tail” at the fifth annual NewImages Festival in Paris in early June.
“Red Tail,” Wang’s first VR film, revolves around an adventure story about a youth chasing a floating red tail in the sky to a fantasy city.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Museum, which commissioned “The Man Who Couldn’t Leave,” said the film is part of the museum’s efforts to promote human rights through different art forms and media.
Chen’s film is set on Taiwan’s Green Island in the 1950s, where political prisoners were held, and tells stories from the “White Terror” martial law period featuring the experiences of political victims, including people who died at the time and those who survived, as well as victims’ family, the museum said.
The United States-born Quintero shared his excitement about his film being selected for the Venice Immersive Competition in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“One of the biggest moments of my life! Our virtual reality film ‘All That Remains’ has been invited to the 79th Venice Film Festival! It has been an amazing journey… thank you to all the people who made this dream possible!” Quintero wrote.
Three prizes will be handed out in the competition — one for “Best Experience,” a “Grand Jury Prize” and a “Special Jury Prize” — according to organizers of the festival.
On Thursday, the Taipei Film Commission said that two of the movies that received funding from the Taipei Film Fund were also picked by the 79th Venice International Festival — one for a competition and the other for a platform, through which filmmakers can secure financing.
“For My Country,” directed by Algerian-born filmmaker Rachid Hami and shot in Taiwan, France, and Morocco, was selected to compete against 17 other films in the “Horizons” competition of the festival.
The film “Be with Me,” on the other hand, stood out from 240 projects and was selected as one of the 27 feature films that can participate in the Venice Gap-Financing Market, which put Taiwan and France in the spotlight this year, the commission said.
Another feature film from Taiwan selected for the financing market is “Tales of Taipei,” a collection of vignettes about the city by 10 directors, the commission added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel