Marché du Film partners with Positron and Brogent Technologies to present Cannes XR 2020

In Virtual Reality News

February 20, 2020 – The Marché du Film, the business counterpart of the Festival de Cannes (the Cannes Film Festival), and Positron, specialists in XR Cinema and immersive filmmaking, together with Brogent Technologies Inc., have today announced their partnership to present Cannes XR 2020, a program fully dedicated to immersive technologies and entertainment at The Palm Beach – a new 1,600 sq. meter waterfront venue in the heart of Cannes. The new venue adds to the already existing 700 sq. meter space dedicated to Cannes XR in the Palais des Festivals.

“At Cannes XR, we believe that the connection between the film industry and the XR industry is essential,” said Marché du Film Executive Director Jérôme Paillard. “This year, Cannes continues to pioneer in the XR cinema space by providing storytellers with an opportunity to showcase their work to international audiences. We’re thrilled to team up with Positron to continue our mission of celebrating the creativity and technical genius of the finest artists and developers in the world.”

Commenting on the partnership, Jeffrey Travis, founder and CEO of Positron, said: “Positron is honored to partner with Cannes XR and Brogent Technologies Inc. to showcase fresh, compelling, and imaginative work that demonstrates the power of storytelling in the VR medium.” He added, “We believe in elevating immersive storytelling and bringing the best work of creators to all audiences. Through our turnkey XR Cinema package, we can offer an unrivaled premium experience for VR films, with a proven business model for location-based entertainment venues.”

The official call for entries to the inaugural Positron Visionary Award for Best Cinematic XR has also been announced today. The award is a special jury prize where finalists get to screen their work at the Positron XR Cinema in Positron’s Voyager VR chairs (pictured above) at the Cannes XR Conference & Development Showcase. The awards will be co-presented by Brogent Technologies Inc., which specializes in simulation technology. 

Directors, artists and creators can submit their VR work for consideration for the Positron Visionary Awards and find full submission guidelines here. Submissions are due by midnight PST on March 20, 2020 and nominations will be announced by March 31, 2020

There is no fee to enter, and finalists selected by the Positron Selection Committee will be presented to a special jury (members to be announced soon). Furthermore, Positron states that all finalists will be considered for a distribution deal with the company. The winner will be awarded with a Voyager VR chair and complete Voyager package (USD $60,000 value) delivered to their studio or office.

The Cannes XR event will be running from May 12-17, 2020, and will be a destination where traditional filmmaking XR industries, Hollywood directors, studio executives, XR artists, independent producers, leading tech companies, and location-based & online distributors come together to imagine and shape the future of movies. Cannes XR is also open to the 39,700 industry professionals attending the Marché du Film and the Festival de Cannes in Cannes, France.

Image credit: Positron

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.