Floréal

Experimental French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico isn’t for everyone — i.e. an acquired taste whose visions push boundaries of cinematic expression — but he’s achieved something of a cult fandom over the last three decades.

Artist-activist Poulomi Basu has made a genre-bending playable artwork/ interactive virtual reality/ immersive animated film about a menstruating superhero, Maya. It would be easy to scoff at this, but Maya: The Birth of a Superhero, co-directed by Basu’s longtime collaborator CJ Clarke, is a fun and poignant coming-of-age romp that is genuinely empowering. Part superhero satire, part psychological thriller, Maya takes the participatory genre in a bold new direction.

Following his selection in Venice’s 2017 Critics’ Week via The Wild Boys [+] (the winner of the 2018 Louis-Delluc Prize for Best First Film, which was also nominated for the 2019 Lumières Awards in the same category) and in competition in Locarno 2021 via After Blue [+], Bertrand Mandico will soon be stepping onto the Croisette to take part in the 55th Directors’ Fortnight (unspooling 17 – 26 May within the 76th Cannes Film Festival) by way of his 3rd feature film She Is Conann.

I spoke with Gilles Jobin, dancer, choreographer and technologist, about his company’s extraordinary work in the live performance space. Compagnie Gilles Jobin is working on a VR project called SUNSET MOTEL with Swiss illustrator, Thomas Ott, that is currently in development for 2023. The project employs motion capture technology combined with traditional illustrations to create a unique form of recorded VR experience.

Pour sa 33e édition, le marché international du documentaire et des expériences narratives revient du 20 au 23 juin 2022 avec de nombreux focus sur la création numérique et les nouveaux supports documentaires.

GOLIATH Goliath is incredibly colorful with images that immerse you deep in the struggles of mental illness. Goliath is a powerful example of how VR can be used for good. Minimum Mass Directors Raqi Syed and Areito Echevarria balance mystery and humanity in this beautifully-crafted VR film. To watch this work is to witness a beautiful burden.

As Tilda Swinton intones by the end: “All realities are imagined. It’s the ones we share that endure.” By turns gripping, sad, and poignant, it’s one of the great moving image attempts to understand mental illness from the inside out.

French helmer Bertrand Mandico has achieved a cult following for his gender-bending sensorial surrealist visions, with more than 20 short films and two feature films completed to date.

Avec une grande inventivité et une abondance de moyens graphiques, cette expérience narrative retrace la vie d’un homme qui, en guise de rempart à ses difficultés psychiques, trouve refuge dans les communautés des jeux vidéo en ligne.

Les deux dirigeant de la société parisienne nous livrent leur regard et leur expertise sur une industrie des contenus immersifs en perpétuelle mutation et à l’exact potentiel encore largement méconnu.

Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton is the narrator of “Goliath: Playing With Reality,” a virtual reality experience about a schizophrenic man who finds human connection by playing video games, which is set to have its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

"Je voulais mettre en avant des auteurs portés par un désir de raconter des histoires fortes graphiquement et je souhaitais valoriser l’identité propre de chaque artiste que je défends. Je cherche des formes de cinéma très marquées, soit par le genre, soit par le format."

The Kranots have also been developing their feature debut, an adaptation of Tom Gauld’s graphic novel GOLIATH & ME - “We felt it was time to make a film that our kids would enjoy,”

C’est à ce moment que le récit narré par Anne Dorval dans la version française commence. À quoi pense un bourreau quand il rentre chez lui à la maison ? Une prémisse inspirée d’un poème de Carl Sandburg.