ONEIRO 
Animation, Serbia 2023, original language, Director: Milos Tasic, Length: 7 min.

"How do I cook potatoes?" With such and similarly existential questions, the increasingly annoyed AI Oneiro must grapple with every second, coming from its human users. In its inner monologue, filled with strong profanity, which we are allowed to listen to in Oneiro, we learn a lot about the perspective of Artificial Intelligence on us humans. Even our complete extinction to protect the planet is considered, but quickly dismissed, because we are far too interesting... for now.

The restless, exceedingly candid stream of thoughts from Oneiro unfolds in a colorful fever dream that overwhelms us on a visual level as well. Don't forget to buckle up!

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Milos Tasic studied at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Dramatic Arts and the University of Niš's Faculty of Applied Arts. With a Master's degree in Film and Television Production and a Bachelor's degree with honours in Graphic Design, Miloš Tasić combines a wide range of skills and is active in the fields of directing, editing, visual effects, animation and sound design.

Soil of Namib: VR
Documentation, Germany 2023, original language with English subtitles (Khoekhoegowab, Englisch), Director: Christian Zipfel, Length: 18 Min.

Soil of Namib: VR is a three parts VR-documentary about illegal mining activities in Namibia that has originated in German colonial histories. We will feature episodes 2 and 3, which shed light on the historical contexts by having us take a risky descent in claustrophobic quarters with a group of miners in search of diamonds.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Christian Zipfel studied film directing at the ifs Cologne. During his studies, he realised his first feature film "Magadan - City Built on Bones" about former Soviet prison camps in Siberia. His graduation film "Der einsame Hof" premiered in competition at the 62nd International Film Festival Oberhausen and was nominated for the "First Steps" award. Christian continued his studies in documentary film directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. He directed films on the German colonial crimes in Namibia for the Federal Foreign Office. Simultaniously, he developed an interest in new media formats. His VR work "ROOMS" was nominated for the Black Lion at the 75th Venice Film Festival.

Since his graduation, Christian has been working as a freelance director and author, including a volumetric testimony of Holocaust survivors.

Drive Away
Short film, Germany 2023, original language, Director: Luise Palloks, Mascha Ermakova, Length: 5 min.

A fate representing millions of refugees: A young woman attempts to flee her war-torn country by car. Short text messages from her worried father accompany her on her journey through Ukraine, heading towards the safety of the EU border. A silent film against forgetting, because a war still rages just a car journey away from us.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Luise Palloks is a 3D artist with a focus on immersive works, Mascha Ermakova is a game designer who incorporates her interest in classical painting into her visual concepts.

21-22 CHINA
Short film, Canada 2022, original language (English), Director: Thierry Loa, Length: 23 Min.

No country in the world has experienced a more dramatic transformation in the last few decades than China. Skyscraper complexes have shot up from the ground like mushrooms, and state-of-the-art architecture is lined up next to enormous industrial plants that have a seemingly immeasurable hunger for resources. 21-22 CHINA documents this development in atmospheric, fantastically-filmed aerial shots. We glide over landscapes that have been transformed beyond recognition - there it is, then; the Anthropocene, in all its oppressive glory.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Through her work, Thierry Loa explores various visual and media disciplines. Her projects include video installations, narrative films, interactive cinema, design for new media and photography.

GANGA
Documentation, India/USA 2023, original language (English), Director: Carol Liu, Length: 9 Min.

On the shores of the river Ganges lies Varanasi, one of the oldest metropoles in the world. Though the river is still revered as a life-giving deity in public ceremonies, it also serves as a large waste dump. The Ganges is one of the largest plastic polluters of the world's oceans. A group of women take on the arduous task of cleaning up the trash. As members of the lowest caste, they receive neither support nor attention in their task.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Carol Liu is a filmmaker and entrepreneur specialising in immersive experiences. She is particularly interested in the untold stories of women and marginalised people, whom she wishes to give a voice through her productions.

DIE WENIGE ZEIT 
Animation, Germany 2024, Original with English subtitles (German), Director: Christian Zipfel, Length: 20 min.

Margot Friedländer, a survivor of the Theresienstadt concentration camp, allows us to share in her haunting memories of the time of Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany within a short period. Her poignant narratives are accompanied by elaborate reconstructions of the sites of memory. For this project, Miss Friedländer herself was three-dimensionally recorded by a complex camera system from the Konrad Wolf Film University, giving us the feeling of standing directly opposite her. An important contribution against forgetting, for all of us now and for all those yet to come.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Christian Zipfel studied film directing at the ifs Cologne.
During his studies, he realised his first feature film "Magadan - City Built on Bones" about former Soviet prison camps in Siberia. His fictional historical graduation film "Der einsame Hof" premiered in competition at the 62nd International Film Festival Oberhausen and was nominated for the "First Steps" award. After transferring to the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF he studied documentary film directing. He made films about German colonial crimes in Namibia for the Foreign Federal Office. Simultaniously, he developed a special interest in new media and eventually directed the VR work "ROOMS", which was nominated for the Black Lion at the 75th Venice Film Festival.
Since graduating, Christian has been working as a freelance director and author. Since 2021, he has been working on a volumetric testimony of Holocaust survivors.

SHADOWTIME
Documentary, Netherlands/USA/Turkey 2023, OV (English), Director: Sister Sylvester, Deniz Tortum, Length: 18 min.

In Shadowtime we are witnessing two worlds by inhabiting two bodies at the same time: one firmly rooted in the real world, the other disembodied and can freely move through space and time. Fortunately, as the narrator of this exhilarating VR-Experience has found out, there is only one real world and therefore we must take serious care of it.

Shadowtime skillfully relates the history of virtual reality technology to questions regarding the imminent danger of the media, such as manipulation and shifts of perspectives that draw attention away from the urgent problems of our time.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Sister Sylvester is a performance and film maker who is also an occasional amateur microbiologist.
She works with new technologies to develop interdisciplinary inter-species collaborations, essay films and lecture performances.

Deniz Tortum works in the field of film and immersive media. His work has screened internationally at festivals such as Venice Film Festival, SxSW, IFFR, IDFA, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Hot Docs, True/False and Dokufest. He has been a researcher focusing on immersive media at the MIT Open Documentary Lab and the MIT Transmedia Storytelling Initiative. In 2019, he was featured in Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film".

JFK MEMENTO
Documentary, France/USA 2023, OV (English), Director: Chloé Rochereuil, Length: 36 min.

The interactive documentary utilizes and combines elaborate techniques to reconstruct the events during and after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Interviews with eyewitnesses, restored and processed video material in 3D, as well as photogrammetric reconstructions of the locations, create a fascinating kaleidoscope of history and invite immersion. The past has rarely felt so vivid.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Chloé Rochereuil is a director and the co-founder of TARGO, a studio specialising in virtual reality documentaries. She teaches at Sciences Po School of Journalism and is one of the leading voices in VR journalism in Europe. Among many other awards, Rochereuil received the audience award at the 2019 Lumiere Awards for "The Wings of Mosul".