It seems like only yesterday we were talking about what to do with virtual reality offerings at traditional film festivals. Starting this month, that may not be a huge concern—because VR is getting a film festival of its own.
The Kaleidoscope VR Film Festival is a traveling fest that will hit 10 cities in the US and Canada starting Aug. 22 in Portland. Each stop will have a series of experiences available on Samsung Gear VR and Oculus VR headsets. The slate of 20 VR movies includes director Vincent Morisset's Way to Go, which hit the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and producer Joseph Chen's Colosse (pictured above), which directs the viewers' experience based on where their gaze falls. The line-up, which you can find here, is intended to give independent VR filmmakers exposure the way other fests champion indie directors.
"[Sundance founder Robert] Redford wanted to create an institution that would support and nurture independent filmmakers," says René Pinnell, the co-founder of VR agency Kaleidoscope. "That's the same inspiration we have for starting the Kaleidoscope VR Film Festival. We want to highlight the amazing independent artists who are inventing the new language of virtual reality cinema."
In addition to Portland, the festival, which is being put on be Kaleidoscope and VR video platform Vrideo, will travel to Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Montreal, Toronto, New York, and Austin.
