This year’s Kaohsiung Film Festival aims to highlight virtual reality (VR) by hosting an international VR forum and launching its first-ever VR workshop, organizers said.
The festival, which runs from Oct. 19 to Nov. 4, has invited key figures in the VR industry to attend the forum, on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, they said.
Liz Rosenthal, cocurator of the Venice Film Festival’s Venice VR competition, is to moderate the forum, while Michael Swierczynski, director of the NewImages film festival in Paris, VR distributor Diversion cinema and HTC Corp, as well as Taiwanese and foreign professionals, would be participating in the discussions, they said.
Speakers would be discussing film festival curation, international film distribution, international film funding and partnerships, film production and the future of the VR industry, they said.
Thirty participants are to be selected for a six-day workshop with a focus on VR scriptwriting, the organizers said, adding that the goal is to help creators join the field of VR production.
Taiwan has a technological advantage when it comes to the development of the VR industry because many VR companies are based here, Rosenthal said.
She is also to be a judge for the VR category of the festival’s international short film competition.
Your Spiritual Temple Sucks (全能元神宮改造王), which was directed by John Hsu (徐漢強) and debuted at the festival last year, was refreshing, Rosenthal said, adding that she looks forward to seeing more VR productions with an Asian perspective at this year’s festival.
Screenings are to take place at the Kaohsiung Main Public Library, the Kaohsiung Film Archive, the Cinemark at Dream Mall, and the VR Film Lab at the Pier-2 Art Center.
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