The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality is a programme developed by La Biennale di Venezia to navigate the most innovative and exciting technology of today – Virtual Reality. In its approach to fully exploring the aesthetic and narrative opportunities offered by this new form Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality provides filmmakers and creative professionals from a wide range of backgrounds with the skills to prepare them to fully engage with 360° interactive immersive future.

With the support of experts and international specialists in the field, Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality will help existing independent filmmakers and creative professionals from all over the world to appropriate the medium of VR and learn how to adapt their knowledge to VR in a fluid transitional way. In the process participants will acquire the specific know-how around 360° immersive storytelling that will redefine the relationship between story and audience.

Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality will select 9 director and producer teams to work on the development of VR projects of between 10-20 minutes duration, at concept stage, helping them to advance their projects covering creative, production, audience/market and financial concerns.

As part of the programme we aim to financially support the production of up to 3 VR projects with € 30,000 each to premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in early September 2017 and to present the other developed projects at the Venice Production Bridge as part of the Gap Financing Market activities.
The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality, realized with the support the Creative Europe – Support for Training, will be collaborating with the Netherlands Film Funds and the TorinoFilmLab.

Deadline for the call for applications is 8th February 2017 and the selection of the 9 teams will be announced on 28th February 2017.