Taiwan showcases 7 virtual reality films at Venice Film Fest

Films set to showcases Taiwan's creative cultural power to the world

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/29
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwanese film industry is set to make an impression with an impressive lineup of virtual reality projects at this year’s Venice Film Festival, which began on Aug. 28 and which will run through Sept. 7.

This year, Taiwan will set a new record for the most VR film projects from a single country ever entered at the esteemed film festival, with seven entries in four categories and one out-of-competition screening. The spectacular array of new-generation film technology and creative storytelling capability could mark a new chapter for Taiwan as an international hub for virtual reality.

The impressive showcase will also hopefully catapult Taiwan’s domestic film industry to international attention. Of the seven VR productions being unveiled at the Venice Film Festival, five of them were made in cooperation with HTC Vive Originals, representing some of the fruits of HTC recent investments in developing VR content for its Vive platform.

The HTC Vive Original VR films being presented this week are “O” by director Qiu Yang, “Only the Mountain Remains” by Chiang Wei-liang, “The Making of” by Midi Z, “Inori” by artist Mita Komatsu and composer Kay Huang, and “Gloomy Eyes” by French animators Jorge Tereso and Fernando Maldonado. Variety quotes the president of HTC Vive Originals Liu Szu-ming stating that the line-up “does not represent a single win by one team, but showcases the successful VR industry cluster and announce the cultural creative power of Taiwan to the world.”    [FULL  STORY]