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Convergence

The seventh edition of the annual program delves into innovative modes of storytelling via interactive experiences, featuring Virtual Reality, Immersive Cinema, AI, and more.

All VR projects take place in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater and the Rose Studio (CMS, 10th Floor Rose Building).

What Goes Up/Must Come Down

  • Eline Jongsma, Kel O’Neill
  • 2018
  • USA
  • 10 minutes

World Premiere · Free and Open to the Public!

Ingeniously weaving virtual reality and conventional 2D filmmaking, Jongsma and O'Neill fuse two discrete documentaries about the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival into a singular whole, and suggest that our dreams may have staggering, real-world consequences.

iNK Stories – Fire Escape: An Interactive VR Series

  • Navid Khonsari
  • 2018
  • USA
  • 45 minutes

Q&A Following Each Screening

This cutting-edge adventure from inkStories (Hero and 1979 Revolution), shown for the first time in its entirety, blurs the lines between game, film, and episodic storytelling, all while creating something entirely new.

Virtual Reality Documentary Program

  • Various
  • 2017/8
  • 70 minutes
This program features the Lupita Nyong'o-narrated My Africa, Ana Kler's The Drummer, and the world premiere of the Mumbai-set Hope Amongst the Haze.

Virtual Reality Arcade

  • Various
  • 70 minutes
Featuring new projects from Walt Disney Animation Studios and more, the VR Arcade gives participants the opportunity to experience several VR stories from multiple creators in the same space.

Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made by Many

  • 120 minutes

Free and open to the public!

It was an innocuous challenge, issued by Lord Byron 200 years ago, that sparked Mary Shelley’s imagination to bring Frankenstein to life. Join Columbia University School of the Arts' Digital Storytelling Lab as they bring this spark to NYFF Convergence with a special lab session mixing story, play, design, and AI.