Taiwan's prowess in cultural and technological innovation has attracted international attention at the NewImages Festival in Paris. Among the 15 finalists for the XR competition, four Taiwanese immersive works have stood out, including Hsin-Chien Huang’s "The Eye and I", Riverbed Theatre's "Over the Rainbow", Very Theatre's "Traversing the Mist", and "The Mirror" by Wu De-Chuen, Mandala Films, and Longwell TV Production. This achievement marks Taiwan as the largest representation from any single country in this category. The awards for the XR competition will be announced on April 27, Taiwan time. In addition to the competitive category, the Taiwanese-French co-production project "Colored" has been selected in the Out-of-competition. Both "The Eye and I" and "Colored" are supported by TAICCA's "Innovative Content Grant for International Co-funding or Co-Productions" programs.
Hsin-Chien Huang's latest VR project, 'The Eye and I.
Further enriching the festival experience, key figures behind Taiwanese immersive works share insights at the NewImages Festival's Industry Days. Notable speakers include Craig Quintero, Art Director of Riverbed Theatre, Chou Tung-Yen, director of "Traversing the Mist" from Very Theatre, and Chen Yi-Jung, director of "Dora".
Riverbed Theatre's VR work "Over the Rainbow"
In the XR Development Market, five Taiwanese projects have been selected in order to find international collaboration opportunities through one-on-one matchmaking sessions. These projects include "Baby Frog" by HiBrain Image, "Dora: The Grotesque Medical Theatre" by The Graduate Company, "Eisbär: A Fantastical Journey" by Select Entertainment, "Indochinese War Refugee VR Museum v1.5" by Mimeo Films, and "Poems of Life" by Wu De-Chuen, Mandala Films, and Longwell TV Production. Meanwhile, six works are seeking exposure in the XR Distribution Market to expand their global reach. These works include "Dora", "Madame Pirate: Code of Conduct", "Mirror", "Re: Paul Chiang – Meditating Algorithm: Immersive in the Life and Works of Paul Chiang", "When the Flowers Bloom", and "Where is Noddy?".
"The Mirror" by Wu De-Chuen, Mandala Films, and Longwell TV Production.
Very Theatre's VR work "Traversing the Mist"
In 2023, TAICCA collaborated with the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animé (CNC), the Forum des images, the French Office in Taipei, and the Kaohsiung Film Archive to develop a bilateral residency program "The Villa Formose Immersive". During the festival, two prototypes developed during the "Villa Formose Immersive" are showcased, namely "Sense of Nowhere" and "Deep Ecology". Additionally, four proposals written and developed by French authors are featured: "Floating Cities", "In Her Rain", "Sosowon, the Season of the Flying Fish", and "The Dream of Lihua Zhou". All of these proposals also had a sharing session during the festival on the 25th.
Homme Tsai, Chairperson of TAICCA, emphasized that Taiwan's immersive works have gained global recognition, blending cultural richness with technological innovation. He underscored the pivotal role of Taiwan-France collaboration in propelling industries like immersive content, new media, film, and TVcontent forward. This partnership not only fosters talent development and market expansion but also drives technological advancements and encourages exploration into new thematic territories.
Taiwanese-French co-production AR project "Colored"
The NewImages Festival, held from 24 to 28 in Paris this year, serves as a crucial platform for showcasing digital immersive works and facilitating professional activities, including forums, workshops, and marketplaces, to propel the immersive industry forward on a global scale.