Keynote for Reality Check, Art Directions, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026

In a recent discussion about AI in film, critic Alyssa Wilkerson talked about attending the Wizard of Oz “remake” at the Sphere in Las Vegas. While she had criticisms about the adaptation – and the use of AI – , what unexpectedly struck her was “being in room with other people who are experiencing wonder”.

This is what makes immersive special. When it works, it gives the audience a chance for a living experience – sonically, visually, physically. Maybe one of these things, maybe all of them. It’s a way of creating for participation, presence and, hopefully, that wonder. And in our current world, where so much is filtered through screens and news and content just flashes by our passive bodies, to have a lived experience resonates.

And what a diversity of immersive options we have: we have cinematic VR, digital art, immersive theater and dance, creations fashioned on algorithms and AI, room-scale VR journeys, sound installations, games, transmedia, and more.

Being at a film festival, I was thinking about the trajectory of the contemporary documentary film industry. In the 90s, it had to prove documentaries were a worthy art and entertainment form. There wasn’t much dedicated funding, but soon that emerged, along with an increase in press exposure and dedicated festivals, then the hype of the 2010s and a focus on impact and impact producing, to the explosion/standardization of economically-fueled content, driven by streamers, to a reclaiming of creative documentary and the fostering of space and eco-systems for under-covered representation, and now more funding for craft and vision and a call for alternative distribution networks as the conglomerates merge and become master gatekeepers.

Immersive could still be considered niche, as was documentary in the 90s.

So how do we build a thriving ecosystem for creativity, technology and cultural relevance to flourish? Can we leapfrog the trajectory straight to diversity, resilience, adaptability and sustainability?

We can feel frustrated in this industry that is still growing: so many panels about the challenges, so many challenges about the landscape, so many landscapes to try to navigate as they change.

Big media companies that seemed to hold the future in their hands with equipment and investment are being lured into a different direction. There are of course real concerns of what will happen: with limited hardware and production and development, do we risk losing content, talent and attention? A stream that feeds the commercial side and fuels the updates, which in turn keeps the ecosystem going.

But there’s also so much to be positive about. Investment is happening. Art is happening.

There are big budget productions succeeding in the LBE space, and smaller, artistic works touching people one-on-one. Hollywood directors are trying out immersive formats as an extension of their IPs. There are distributors focusing solely on XR, and others integrating it into their film slates. There are researchers looking at what works and how it does. There is an emerging impact space.There is a crossover of artists to “immersive” and a welcoming of their practice.  New hardware and software breeds new ways of creating, offers new equipment to design and imagine for.

Festival options are expanding: new programmes are popping up regularly, as solely XR festivals, as established sections of major festivals, boutique strands in others, and work bleeding into theater, performance and digital art festivals. Many are launching pitching sessions or markets alongside their curatorial programmes. There are new labs emerging.

We’re seeing immersive work in galleries, cinemas, public spaces and museums. It’s showcased in health, education and civic contexts.

Financing opportunities are growing – more public money, traditional funders welcoming XR proposals, and entirely new strands, initiatives and funds emerging.

People are making work, and it’s good. In fact, there’s not enough work. We need more to span the breadth of formats and subjects and style – animation, essay, verite, sonically forward, archival, comedy! – to make space for experimentation.

The big commercial projects are succeeding, but we also need to make sure that we take care of smaller, independent artists. This is where our independent industry shines – there is no one prescription for how it works and openings for those who want to take them.

We should celebrate those who have been investing in and successful in making immersive work, the consistent players of the industry, while keeping opportunities open to take chances on newcomers and crossover artists.

We should celebrate the scaling up of work, but be careful about thinking that a piece needs to be seen by everyone, everywhere. Where possible – it’s great to think about adaptations of a piece so it can reach the most people. But sometimes a piece can be purely one thing for one environment, and we should not sideline their creation because the bang for buck is restricted.

Makers should have that conversation with themselves and explores the possibilities.

In the same way, to make work that succeeds we need to be thinking – and teaching – about the core aspects of design, narrative and experience. Good stories and structure that makes sense in the immersive space. How to adapt the mindset of creating content for 2D or other art formats into a mindset for an immersive form – especially how to use its form and opportunities in an advantageous narrative or experiential way.Spatial design and sound design. Experience and interactivity design. Not just physical comfort, but also cognitive and emotional. What makes the experience good for the audience, and therefore successful and encourages them to try more.

A thriving immersive ecosystem is fueled by a lifecycle of integrated parts.

At the educational level ->

There are many great University departments and programmes dedicated to the research, development and understanding of the XR and new media fields. They are often intertwined with production programmes, but those also sit in gaming, visual arts, filmmaking. These environments are breeding grounds for experimentation.

Non-academic and cultural organizations are hosting classes and webinars exploring everything from ethics to social design to impact. New fellowships are designed to catch cross-over artists and prepare them for XR mindsets and models. The more entry points and deepening of the field the better.

At the production level ->

More and more production companies are focusing on XR. Markets are popping up, producers are shopping for projects and out there for partnerships.

But say you’re an artist who has an idea, but no clue technologically how to do it. Do you need to learn Unreal engine yourself? How can you hire someone and how do you know they’re good? Where can you find talent for sound design and 3D animation and game engine design?

Could we have an accessible network or union of producers, game engine specialists, 3D animators or sound designers?

Regarding technologies – Just as countries are developing LLMs with their own language and cultural contexts to maintain techno-sovereignty, we also need to look into open source models for software and hardware. Having all the equipment and infrastructure in the hands of a few companies is never good, and need to develop more accessible, equitable platforms. Technologies change, we need to be agile and adaptable.

We still need more funding, investment and creative financing opportunities. There is active lobbying across Europe for more established XR money integrated into public arts funding.

We should also look to private funding through foundations, cultural organizations, companies with aligned subject areas, NGOS and impact organizations.

At the same time, investment isn’t just financial. We also need support networks that invest in artists, and help connect them to each other, to mentors and knowledge, and to exhibition opportunities.

At the exhibition and distribution level ->

More and more spaces devoted to XR are opening, and collaborations and coalitions are mapping the landscape to find the strengths and gaps.

But we need models for alternative spaces, as well toolkits and support to help them understand how, what equipment is needed and how to get it, how to build the installation or run the program.

Vis a vis the impact conversation, there is untapped potential for bringing immersive and XR to new audiences, and outside the traditional venue. To those who may engage because of the content rather than the format.

One reason why exhibition is SO important is not only that we need to build audiences, but also to show what is possible. If an artist cannot travel to festivals or not lucky enough to have a solid venue where they live, how can they know what is out there? How can they be inspired?

Is it crazy to think about a Vimeo-like subscription platform where artists and curators could access projects outside of the proprietary platforms?

Regarding archives and adaptation, we need ways to preserve and present older work. Libraries for experiences so people can learn and inspire and make, and tools to make it possible to exhibit pieces built with older technologies.

At the discourse and recognition level ->

The industry still does not have enough critical feedback and press coverage – there are a small number of outlets focused on XR, and some reviews of artworks, artists or exhibitions in major outlets. But we also don’t want to insult each other – this also keeps critical discourse in private chats and doesn’t leave room for artists to get exposure or artworks to have criticism.

Solutions to our challenges – as well as cross-cutting priorities like diversity of voices and approach, and user experience/design –  could be applied at any of these levels. Which is why we need to invest in all of them to build off each other.

If you’re in this room, you probably know all of this already. So we’re gathered here to think about the pathways forward.

We don’t want to define things too much or write too many prescriptions that we risk taking the organic energy out of the field.

But there are so many exciting works on the horizon, so many ideas, so many executions. The glory of immersive is that there are many, many ways to tell the same story, to interpret the same ideas, to reflect the same questions – in narrative, in style, in format, in execution, in experience. The possibilities are exponential. So let us find ways to address some of these challenges to help make the exponential possibility possible.