Canadian VR in Korea

(August 9, 2017 – Toronto, ON) The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) has announced that three CFC Media Lab VR productions have been selected for exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul, Korea. The three VR experiences will show in The History of Visual Magic in Technology, Part 1: Canadian VR Films, which be open to the public starting today, August 9, and will continue to August 15 in the Multi-project Hall.

Titled Body/Mind/Change Redux, Invisible World: The VR Experience and Small Wonders: The VR Experience, these three VR experiences explore the range and depth of contemporary Canadian VR, and how VR is transforming cinematography across the genres of science-fiction (Body/Mind/Change Redux), documentary (Invisible World) and animation (Small Wonders). Being part of this exhibition illustrates the growing international recognition of Canadian VR and the CFC Media Lab as a global trailblazer for the platform.

Starring David Cronenberg and produced by CFC Media Lab in co-production with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Body/Mind/Change Redux digitally extends the original TIFF exhibition, David Cronenberg: Evolution. Here, audiences enter a Cronenbergian world inspired by the film, Videodrome, reimagined for the twenty-first century across three platforms – online, mobile and real-world. Producer Ana Serrano with directors J. Lee Williams and Blair Renaud employ VR to draw audiences further into Cronenberg’s already-visceral experience.

Invisible World uses VR to reimagine documentary as a conceptual story space. It lets audiences take on the layered points of view of three people whose lives intersect around the near-tragedy of a child in Cambodia. Producers Bonnie Thompson and Ana Serrano with directors Galen Scorer and Tyler Enfield create a world that, through VR, enables audiences to move within, between and around physical spaces, creating new meaning through new juxtapositions. For this exhibition it will be shown with Korean subtitles.

Originally a component for the international exhibition, Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures, the VR experience of Small Wonders invites audiences to enter a miniature Boxwood prayer bead that visualizes heaven and hell. Small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, this tiny masterpiece depicts its complex scene with elegance and precision. Audiences can move through, around and within this literal small wonder, discovering its intricate carvings made visible through the power of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and VR. This artistic and technical collaboration involved producers Ana Serrano, CFC Media Lab, and Mark Jones, Seneca College School of Creative Art and Animation, with Art Gallery of Ontario conservator Lisa Ellis and interactive artist and designer Priam Givord.

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization whose mission is to invest in and inspire the next generation of world-class Canadian content creators and entrepreneurs in the screen-based entertainment industry.The CFC Media Lab is an internationally acclaimed digital media think tank and award-winning production facility. It provides a unique research, training and production environment for digital media content developers and practitioners, as well as acceleration programs and services for digital entertainment start-ups and related SMEs. Program participants have emerged as leaders in the world of digital media, producing groundbreaking projects and innovative, sustainable companies for the digital and virtual age. CFC Media Lab is funded in part by a contribution of up to$4.76 million through FedDev Ontario. Click here to learn more about CFC Media Lab’s VR strategy and productions, and click here to read more about the exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea.