Dubai: There are many reasons why this week’s Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), now in its 13th edition, should not be missed. But if there is one absolute must-do at the week-long event, it is to watch a virtual reality (VR) film - being screened for the first time in the UAE.
“A VR film is a 3D film with a 360 degree view. It ensures that the viewer is literally immersed in a scene,” says Shivani Pandya, the festival’s managing director.
“Unlike 2D or 3D where you can see things and people in front of you, you can feel the action all around you in VR.”
Five world premieres
By definition, VR is an artificial, computer-generated simulation of a real life situation which immerses viewers to such an extent that they feel they are experiencing the simulated scene first-hand by stimulating their own senses. Now imagine having the chance to pick from 10 of the world’s most advanced VR films, including five world premieres (see box)!
Running for a maximum of 20 minutes each, the VR films can be viewed for Dh35 at the festival headquarters at Madinat Jumeirah till December 14. The line-up begins with the screening of Indian director Faiza Ahmad Khan’s non-fiction film When All Land Is Lost? where the audience is transported to the coal mining district of Korba in India for a story about a tribal woman.
Unique ecosystem
Similarly, Russian director Georgy Molodtsov and American director Michael Owen team up for the creation of Lake Baikal: The Science and Spirituality of Extreme Water in a world premiere. The five immersive VR scenes make the audience shiver with cold as the film explores a unique ecosystem, icy winter landscapes and strong spiritual traditions that surround the earth’s most ancient and deepest lake, Lake Baikal in Siberia.
Pandya said, “The festival is a beautiful showcase of experiences in augmented reality, VR and immersive reality.”
With technology taking the audience to the next level, visitors can expect unique experiences, including their image or persona ending up being part of the scene in the exhibition area, an interaction with a character or even a chance to change the way a film ends.
She said the novel ‘In Conversation’ segment offers visitors a chance to get up close with the likes of Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Cheryl Boone Isaacs and a host of others.
Elsewhere too, residents can get a piece of the DIFF action at the free-to-attend Beach Screenings at The Beach where Jordan Robert’s American adventure comedy-drama Burn Your Maps, Michaël Dudok de Wit’s animated masterpiece The Red Turtle, among other films will be beamed.
Pandya said there were be two presentations of Jungle Book and Star Wars at the Vox Cinemas in the Mall of the Emirates too.
VR Line-up at DIFF 2016
Invisible by British director Darren Emerson, explores the psychological pressures of being behind prison walls
Flash, the first Emirati VR film by Emirati director Hassan Kiyany
When All Land Is Lost? A non-fiction film set in an Indian coal mining district by Indian director Faiza Ahmad Khan
I, Philip by French filmmaker Pierre Zandrowicz, audiences can be absorbed in the mind of Phil, the first Android human
Lake Baikal: The Science and Spirituality of Extreme Water by Russian director Georgy Molodtsov, has five immersive virtual reality scenes.
Knives by Canadian director Adam Cosco, focuses on Kelsey, a housewife who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown
Oblivius by French director Romain Levices, follows two souls that meet in the underworld
Are You Listening? Amazon & Congo which plants its audience in the depths of the Amazon rainforest with the Munduruku Tribe, and the biodiverse eastern Congo with the Virunga Park Rangers
Defrost by American director Randal Kleiser, follows Joan’s bittersweet experience of reuniting with family after being frozen for 30 years.
No Borders by Italian director Haider Rashid, documents the experiences of volunteers who support migrants.
