Convergence

The sixth edition of the annual program delves into the world of immersive storytelling via interactive experiences, featuring virtual reality, augmented reality, live labs and demos, and more.

Convergence is free to the public and will take place Friday, September 29, from 3-6pm, and Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1, from 12-6pm in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W 65th St.).

Dark Corner VR: Night Night, Mule, & Catatonic

• Guy Shelmerdine
• 2017
• USA
• 18 minutes

The team at Dark Corner Studios have made a name for themselves on 360 degree virtual reality film projects that explore the boundaries of horror cinema by placing audiences in the center of thrilling—and often terrifying—scenarios.

Look But With Love – Episodes 1 & 2

• Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• 2017
• USA

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and presented by WITHIN, this documentary series follows extraordinary people in Pakistan actively working to change their communities through causes they care deeply about.

VR and the Future of Virtual Production by Lucasfilm

• Jose Perez, Rachel Rose, Nick Rasmussen

From the depths of earth’s oceans to galaxies far, far away, VR allows us to be anyone, go anywhere, and see anything. Lucasfilm and its visual effects division, Industrial Light & Magic, have harnessed the power of this medium to create a new Virtual Production toolset, allowing filmmakers to build and scout a virtual set, manipulate props, puppeteer characters and vehicles, even compose shots to create virtual storyboards.

Reality Jockeys

• Vizor
• 2017
• Finland

Finnish visual artists Fthr and Lintu specialize in creating surreal worlds in real time while interacting with the audience. Using custom software (Vizor Patches) and a variety of materials, they guide you through a trip that starts from nothing and ends in a living, breathing virtual world.

Sanctuaries of Silence

• Adam Loften, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
• 2017
• USA

In Loften and Vaughan-Lee’s piece, the story that we’re asked to experience is that of silence itself, as told through the unique perspective of acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton.

Virtual Virtual Reality

• Tender Claws
• 2017
• USA

The brainchild of Tender Claws, the collective behind PRY (2015), Virtual Virtual Reality ponders humanity’s purpose in a future where our jobs have been co-opted by machines. Will we be little more than relics, reminders…even pets?

Arilyn

With Augmented Reality, which superimposes images, video, and other content onto our flesh and bone world, the line between the virtual and the real can blur to the point of being indistinguishable—with little more than a cell phone.

Gamescape: The Revenge of Full Motion Video

Full Motion Video games are making a comeback as creators breathe new life into this 35-year-old form. The 2017 edition of Gamescape celebrates some of the best new FMV work and looks back on titles both famous and infamous from the golden age of the arcade.

De-Escalation Room: Live Lab with Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab

• Lance Weiler

A collaboration with SAFELab, the De-Escalation Room aims to create an immersive storytelling space that reckons with the negative behaviors of social media, forcing its players to work together to defuse an otherwise dangerous situation.