From Cannes Film Festival to the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), more and more virtual-reality (VR) films have lifted their veil of mystery and been presented to audiences, ushering in a new era of immersive entertainment.

"I can watch the film in 360 degrees," said a female moviegoer who had watched VR films for the first time. "It seems as though I'm one of the actors in the film, and pushed the development of the story through the embedded settings. I got a great sense of participation, unlike that of just sitting in the cinema."

She is talking about "The Key," winner of Best VR Film at Venice Film Festival 2019, which has been presented at the VR screening of the ongoing BJIFF. The film combines the immersive world with an interactive experience, in which the audience becomes a player to navigate the plot and uncover a hidden truth at the end of the journey.

Based on the experience of previous two years, this year's VR screening at the BJIFF includes a total of 18 films from 10 countries and regions, among which many are winners of or entries in other renowned international films festivals. Curious audiences bought out the tickets on the first day of release.

"Many of the VR films presented are their China premiere," said Che Lin, curator of BJIFF's VR screening. "We hope that the audience can experience the unique charisma of VR as a new medium and new technology."

The development of technology has made more film festivals highlight the possibilities that VR can bring to the film industry.

The Cannes Film Festival last year newly set up a program dedicated to immersive entertainment, the Cannes XR. And this year, the festival, joining hands with global VR content community VeeR, gave 12 entries to the Cannes XR a physical screening tour in China for the first time.

"The importance that Cannes Film Festival attached on 360 VR works since last year represents the rise of this new medium," said Li Xun, senior researcher at the China Film Art Research Center.

"Immersive entertainment has not received much attention from film and television creators in the past. But with the rapid development of the VR industry in recent years, the 360 VR content has got rid of the stereotype of low quality under technical constraints and ushered in a new period of development," he said.

On the Beijing stop of the Cannes XR x VeeR 360 VR film screening tour, dozens of VR equipment has been set up at the exhibition rooms in central Beijing's Longfu Temple Area, attracting over 200 audiences every day in August.

Wearing a VR glass and sitting in a 360 degree rotating egg-chair, audience can watch films of different genres from live-action, documentary to animation.

Among them, the story of the Apollo missions, "1st Step," won much acclaim. Based on the NASA's data and photos sent back by the Apollo 17 mission, the 360 stereo film recreates the details of the moon landing with 3D modelling technology, which took the VeeR Future Award at this year's Cannes XR competition.

"In the past, the development of VR focused more on the games or tangible interaction. But in recent years, many creators across the world use VR on more diversified content and artistic creations," said Chen Jingshu, co-founder of VeeR.

"Although the development of immersive entertainment is still in an early stage and cannot be compared to mature film and television works, more and more excellent immersive works are sprouting," she said. "We hope more people can see the infinite possibilities of this emerging medium VR."

(Cover image: A man watches a VR film. /CFP)