‘Wallace & Gromit in the Grand Getaway’ to Compete in Venice Film Festival’s Immersive Program

Leo Barraclough
·3 min read
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The 80th Venice Film Festival has revealed its selection of projects for Venice Immersive, the XR-Extended Reality section of the festival, which runs Aug. 30 – Sept. 9. The program will include VR experience “Wallace & Gromit in the Grand Getaway” and a Fatboy Slim project.

Venice Immersive is devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression: 360° videos and XR works of any length, including installations and virtual worlds. The program, which will take place on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, will present 44 projects from 25 countries, and 24 works in the Worlds Gallery section. It will comprise:

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  • 28 projects in Competition

  • 10 projects Out of Competition – Best of Venice Immersive. International selection of the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice Film Festival.

  • Six projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema – VR: One project produced thanks to the grant from the seventh edition, and five projects developed within the international workshop of the previous editions.

  • 24 worlds selected for the Worlds Gallery, presented in guided World Hops Tours, immersive guided tours. The users will be escorted through the selected VRChat Worlds featured in the Worlds Gallery. An ecosystem of virtual immersive worlds created by independent artists from all over the world.

The members of the international jury of Venice Immersive are Singing Chen (Taipei), German Heller (U.S.), and Pedro Harres (Brazil).

In “The Grand Getaway,” which runs in competition, holidays are in the offing for Wallace and Gromit. They are looking forward to sun, sand and the chance to test out their latest contraption, Auto-Caddy, but Wallace has his dates mixed up – they have to be on the other side of the country in just half an hour. There’s only one thing for it: they’ll take the rocket, but a mishap with the controls sends Wallace, Gromit and Auto-Caddy hurtling off course.

The project is created by Finbar Hawkins, Bram Ttwheam and Lawrence Benett. It is a co-production between Aardman, Atlas V, Astrea and No Ghost.

Among the narrators on projects are Olivia Cooke in “Emperor,” Jason Isaacs and Haley Joel Osment in “Gargoyle Doyle,” and Neil Gaiman in “Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens.”

The Worlds Gallery section includes a project by Fatboy Slim, Engage XR and Anglo Management titled “Fatboy Slim – Eat, Sleep, VR, Repeat.”

VENICE IMMERSIVE IN COMPETITION
“Empereur” (Emperor) by Marion Burger, Ilan Cohen (France, Germany)
“Songs for a Passer By” by Celine Daemen (Netherlands)
“Tulpamancer” by Marc Da Costa, Matthew Niederhauser (U.S.)
“Remember This Place: 31°20’46’’n 34°46’46’’e” by Patricia Echeverria Liras (Palestine, Qatar, Spain)
“Letters From Drancy” by Darren Emerson (U.S., U.K.)
“The Imaginary Friend” by Steye Hallema (Netherlands, Belgium, France)
“Wallace & Gromit in the Grand Getaway” by Finbar Hawkins, Bram Ttwheam, Lawrence Benett (France, U.K.)
“Sen” by Keisuke Itoh (Japan)
“My Name Is O90” by Siyeon Kim (South Korea)
“Comfortless” by Gina Kim (South Korea, U.S.)
“Body of Mine” by Cameron Kostopoulos (U.S.)
“Oneroom-Babel” by Sanghee Lee (South Korea)
“Chen Xiang VR” by Liu Yuejun, Wu Nanni, Shi Tao, Xu Jingqiu (China)
“Flow” by Adriaan Lokman (Netherlands, France)
“Home” by Temsuyanger Longkumer (U.K.)
“Peupler” (Populate) by Maya Mouawad, Cyril Laurier (France, Lebanon)
“Floating With Spirits” by Juanita Onzaga (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands)
“Syuhasuu” (Frequency) by Ellie Omiya (Japan)
“Pepitos: The Beak Saga” by Ruxandra Gabriela Popescu (U.K., U.S.)
“Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens” by Paul Raphaël, Félix Lajeunesse (Canada, U.S.)
“Perennials” by Zoe Roellin (U.S.)
“Finalmente Eu” (Finally Me) by Marcio Sal (Brazil)
“Gargoyle Doyle” by Ethan Shaftel (U.S., Argentina, Austria)
“Aufwind” (Upwind) by Florian Siebert (Germany)
“Horse Canyon” by NProwler (Canada)
“Shadowtime” by Sister Sylvester, Deniz Tortum (Netherlands, U.S., Turkey)
“Complex 7” by Fins (U.S.)
“Spots of Light” by Adam Weingrod (Israel, Canada)

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