Fantastic Voyages :: October 11 - 20, 2007 :: Society for Arts and Technology [SAT], 1195 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Montreal, Canada.

The event The Future of Cinema? presented by the Festival du nouveau cinéma and the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] invite people to explore an immersive exposition: Fantastic Voyages. To present the new paths being explored by motion pictures, every space in the SAT will become a set, creating a series of immersive experiences that bring the visitor into the centre of the work. A physical and mental voyage to the heart of sound and image, in which perception is distorted and visitor/viewers lose track of points of reference and boundaries. Thanks to 360° presentations, stereoscopic 3D, holography and telepresence, visitors will explore a series of spaces in which the senses are blurred, tricked, altered, and even obliterated.

In Morel’s Panorama, an installation inspired by the book Morel’s Invention, Japanese artist Masaki Fujihata presents images captured by a panoramic camera in a square space. It is an unexpected take on the concept of immersion. Continuing to the 3D world of SANDDETM, a high-tech device developed by IMAX® and use by the NFB for the creation of stereoscopic 3D animations, viewers are immersed in sounds and 3D images floating around them. In the NFB Stereo Lab, viewers will have the opportunity to see screenings of several NFB’s creations, including a stereoscopic world premiere.

Visitors move from macro to micro, as they explore the ten Cinema@home stations developed by Grégory Chatonsky. The shift in scale redirects the immersive experience to the individual’s inner space.

To enhance the effect, visitors next enter the world of Nox Matter by Nicolas Reeves and Lorella Abenavoli, an invitation to experience the rich silence of interstellar space through an eradication of the limits of perception. The Future of Cinema presents Late Fragment, North America’s first interactive dramatic feature film, produced by the Canadian Film Centre and National Film Board of Canada, one of the most fully realized experiences in the field. The viewer - now the director - uses his own intuition as his guide and cinematically pieces the narrative together.

Next, finding themselves face to face with a man being tortured, the hyperrealism of 3D exposes the contradiction of the viewer’s powerlessness to stop the carnage. The cube, the space in which Hendrick Dusollier’s Face is presented, can be seen by only one viewer at a time; it amplifies the feeling of immersion through an intimate experience of another’s pain.

The visitor is then drawn into 360° installations where the imagination is free to roam. A panoramic projection with spatial sound, the Cyclorama features seven works by the artists of Fabrique Numérique. Sébastien Roy’s invention stretches the perceptions of those who enter, making them see and hear in a circular, infinite way.

Finally, immersed in the image of Où es-tu/Where are you by Luc Courchesne, users control their movements within a virtual existence simulator while exploring the myriad features of this panoscopic device.

The Future of Cinema? also includes:

LECTURES AND DEBATES: THE AUDIENCE AT THE CENTRE: With the goal of sparking a far-reaching reflection on the possibilities of cinema’s future directions, the FNC and the SAT will host a series of thematic lectures and debates for the public and industry professionals, in the SAT café daily at 1 p.m.:

− October 12: The future of movie theatres and immersive devices (cinema and immersion)
− October 13: Stereoscopic 3D: a comeback story (cinema and immersion)
− October 19: DIY cinema (cinema and new platforms)
− October 20: Movies meet video games (cinema and gaming)

FESTIVAL VIDEOBLOG: For the ten days of the Festival, in partnership with the NFB’s Parole Citoyenne/CitizenShift, festivalgoers are invited to come to the SAT café to share written comments, videos, photos, reviews and impressions by joining our team of bloggers/filmmakers/reporters, Mélanie Charbonneau, Mathieu Vachon and Annie Le Cavalier.