Chinese immersive storytelling featured at Venice Film Festival

At the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, Chinese creators are utilizing immersive technologies to reach global audiences through the ‘Venice Immersive’ section. This official festival segment showcases extended reality (XR) works, including virtual reality, mixed reality, and immersive installations.

A notable entry in this year’s competition is ‘The Pigeon Ring’, directed by Zhang Yuqi and Tao Shixin. The immersive work explores themes of family, memory, and intergenerational bonds through the story of a granddaughter helping her grandfather search for a lost pigeon ring in their old family home.

Directors Zhang and Tao noted that much of the recent audience has been international, with many foreign viewers expressing deep emotional connections to the piece. Michel Reilhac, co-curator of ‘Venice Immersive’, also described the work as highly moving.