The Taiwanese virtual reality (VR) film The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up (雲在兩千米) is being featured at this year's Luxembourg City Film Festival and is competing for the "Best Immersive Experience" award in its Immersive Pavilion.
Directed by Singing Chen (陳欣儀) and adapted from a short story by Taiwanese author Wu Ming-yi (吳明益), the film follows protagonist Guan on a "surreal journey into dreamlike scenes" after he discovers his recently deceased wife's unfinished novel about Taiwan's endangered clouded leopard and the origin myth of the Rukai tribe, according to the festival's introduction.
The project is a single-user, free-roaming VR experience that "blends literature and memory into an intimate exploration of love, loss and self-reflection," the festival said.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris
On the opening day of the festival on Thursday last week, Chen gave a presentation about the creation of the film, speaking at Mudam Luxembourg, where the film is being screened.
In a telephone interview, Chen said the film has sparked curiosity among European audiences about Taiwan's indigenous culture and myths.
During the festival, Chen said she has met with administrators and curators from European art museums and venues, as well as other filmmakers.
Chen said some curators told her they had traveled to Luxembourg specifically to watch her film, while others said they had seen it at the Venice Film Festival last year but came to view it again.
The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up won the "Venice Immersive" award at last year’s festival.
Next month and in May, public screenings of the film are to be held in Paris, with the assistance of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris, Chen said.
Now in its 15th year, the Luxembourg City Film Festival is being held from Thursday last week to Sunday and has attracted more than 38,000 participants to its activities, including more than 22,000 film audiences, according to its official Web site.
The Immersive Pavilion, currently in its ninth edition, is being presented from Thursday last week to March 22.
This year's pavilion also honors artist Craig Quintero's Just for You, a trilogy of VR works created with Taipei-based Riverbed Theatre.
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