The future of the film festival

The pandemic has changed many things around the world. In times of stress, sadness and the upturn in the world, nothing beats going to the movies. Unfortunately, pandemics and crowded movie theaters don’t mix. Cinemas have to close, even after applying social distancing measures, because production companies are suspending their cinema releases.

Fortunately, movie lovers and film festival creators don’t give up. They are finding new ways to share movies. And they’re bringing back some outdated methods so that people can be together, separately, at the cinema. Film festivals and movie theaters don’t just bring people together. They are a vital way to share the art that is the film. Film festival curators are redefining the film festival by creating new categories to incorporate storytelling mediums such as movies, video games and virtual reality experiences.

Drive-in as a response to film festivals

The pandemic doesn’t stop movie buffs and viewers from keeping the cinematic experience alive. Drive-in cinemas are making a comeback. Drive-ins were a staple of the 1950s and 1960s. Unfortunately, most drive-in cinemas have closed their doors so new, makeshift have sprung up. Modern car speakers are almost a surround sound experience and “a drive-in offers the possibility of being together and feeling separate”.

Eugene Hernandez, who runs the New York Film Festival, believes drive-in popups are an effective solution for film festivals in a pandemic. He believes drive-ins saved the New York Film Festival. “The devastating pandemic has forced so many arts organizations to rethink how we connect new films to audiences,” said Hernandez, “and drive-ins are a great common opportunity to do that.”

Mini popups do better than the decline of drive-in cinemas because they are a film festival. They don’t have to rely on almost non-existent studio publications. In countries like Germany, drive-in cinemas are also making a comeback. One man, Thorsten Schiers, was able to offset the “financial losses caused by the cancellation of flea markets and weekly markets thanks to increased demand for films”.

Engaging entertainment companies like Secret Cinema are also using drive-in to bring their hybrid films and immersive experiences to life. Secret Cinema specializes in immersive cinematic experiences and had an immersive Stranger Things experience in Los Angeles.

Virtual reality to the rescue

While drive-in cinemas are a great way to scratch the itch at the cinema, they don’t help bring new movies to audiences. The leaders of the Venice Film Festival and TIFF are turning to virtual reality to virtually recreate the film festival experience. Film festivals are more than screened films. They are camaraderie, fancy dress and buzz generated by internal knowledge. The official selection of the Venice VR Film Festival and the contest for immersive content, which usually takes place on the Lazzaretto Vecchio island off the Lido of Venice, this year have taken a different approach by recreating the experience of the festival in VR. Instead of trying to recreate what the Venice Film Festival looks like in real life, “we decided to show in VRChat not the real experience, but something that can make people available to explore them: there are 2D trailers, 3D trailers and even mini ones. interactive worlds … “

“It’s like an immersive theater on acid,” said Liz Rosenthal, one of the curators of Venice VR Expanded, “You can do things you can’t do in the physical world, you can fly, you can be any avatar you like, you can go in mission, it is truly extraordinary “. In the first two days of Venice VR Expanded, hosted on VRChat, there were 5,000 visits to virtual worlds.

Virtual reality can also benefit from film festivals. “Festivals provide stepping stones and visibility, but they don’t provide revenue,” Reilhac says. “If we want virtual reality to become a market, it has to generate income. So this is a way to capitalize on our care. “

“Virtual reality offers a way to democratize film festivals,” says Antony “Skarredghost” Vitillo, co-founder of New Technology Walkers, who participated in the development of the worlds of Venice VR Expanded within VRChat. “Thanks to virtual reality it is possible to participate in a festival wherever you are: you just have to wear your virtual reality headset and in a few moments you are there. I’ve always wanted to be at the Venice VR Festival, but due to my busy schedule, I’ve never had the opportunity. But this year, thanks to VRChat, I was able to be present from the comfort of my home. I was there, on the Venice Red Carpet, taking the first red carpet photos of my life together with high profile people like Liz Rosenthal! Venice VR Expanded saw the participation of many people who probably never would have had the time and money to go to Venice, and this is a tremendous opportunity for festivals to maximize their reach and make the culture expand in Worldwide “

Not everyone agrees with the new technology. Cannes Film Festival Director Thierry Fremaux told Variety: “Wes Andersonor Paul Verhoeven film on a computer? Discovering Top Gun 2 or (Pixar) Soul elsewhere than in [a] Theater? These films have been postponed to be shown on a big screen; why should we show them first, on a digital device? “”

DOK.fest produced an online edition of its documentary film festival. Although online ticket sales have exceeded expectations, DOK.fest director Daniel Sponsel said: “The place of a film festival remains the cinema. We look forward to the next editions of the festival, where we can laugh or get excited together again. “‘

Michele Reilhac, curator of Venice VR Expanded, thinks differently. Following the success of Venice VR, he said they are “promoting the idea that any live event planned in the future will be a hybrid event …” a mix of online and in-person experiences. Dieter Krauss, commercial director of the 27th Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival, thinks that: “Hybrid film formats offer the opportunity to further expand and internationalize our reach.”

Video games that change the meaning of the film

Film festivals are an exploration of art through storytelling. The medium has traditionally been film and film, but video games have impressed the film festival community. The first video game recognized at a film festival was Rockstar Games’ The black in 2011. Film festival directors have been recognizing the influence of video games on film ever since. They now have their own section at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Tribeca Games Vice President Casey Baltes said video games are “one of the most sophisticated storytelling vehicles today – not only with narrative but also with incredible artistry, creating highly immersive worlds and providing connections. significant to communities around the world. “

The film festival of the future

The future of film festivals is changing, no doubt spurred more rapidly by the pandemic. Film festival directors and creators see the future of film festivals more as a place to express art and storytelling and less on the medium itself. Film festival creators are even using the technology itself as a way to express the creative experience of a film festival as seen with Venice VR Expanded.

“The burgeoning festival market generates billions of euros in revenue, but faces incomprehensible constraints of time, space and logistics, which prevent them from reaching a wider audience. Furthermore, a large part of the public cannot attend the festivals due to logistical constraints or financial problems. The growing impact of carbon footprint awareness and the crisis of epidemics are additional elements that require alternative solutions for both events and their audience: so VR is the obvious solution as it can address all these problems by enabling people to virtually participate in festivals from anywhere in the world. world, as if they were there. “Said Louis Cacciuttolo, CEO of VRrOOm.

Nothing beats the in-person experience and the expectation of sitting in a theater for a new release. But film festival directors see the future as hybrid. Even after the pandemic, when audiences can return to the big screen, online and virtual events will be part of the film festival experience.

In a joint press release from the world’s leading film festivals, they wrote: “We believe that cinema has a unique power to illuminate both the world around us and our innermost perceptions. In a crisis, films can transport us. They can. enchant, inform, provoke and heal. “So can virtual reality. So can video games. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that storytelling, expression and art have once again transformed into new dimensions and means. Recognizing this is the future of film festivals.