Searching for films and virtual experiences you can really engross yourself in? Or perhaps you’re looking for inspiration before entering Immersive?
Supported by Meta, the new Immersive category celebrates short films that use one or more of three immersive formats — 3D, 180° and/or 360° video. Films must be 5–20 minutes in length and can span any genre, from fiction to documentary, live action to animation.
To explore some of the creative possibilities of immersive filmmaking, we’ve brought together five animated VR films and experiences from a range of studios. From pioneering virtual reality animation to richly imagined immersive worlds, this selection offers a glimpse at the different ways filmmakers and creators are using VR to bring audiences into their worlds.
1. Dear Angelica
Created by Emmy Award-winning Oculus Story Studio, Dear Angelica takes viewers into a dreamlike world shaped by memories of loved ones. The short was entirely painted by hand inside VR, with its illustrations unfolding around the viewer as the story progresses. Starring Geena Davis and Mae Whitman, it demonstrates how VR animation can turn a deeply personal story into an experience that feels intimate and immersive.
2. BATTLESCAR:Punk Was InventedBy Girls
Set in 1978 New York City, BATTLESCAR:Punk Was InventedBy Girls plunges you into the gritty world of punk through the eyes of two teenage runaways, Lupe and Debbie. This three-part animated VR film follows the pair as they form a punk band and take on the city, with Rosario Dawson voicing Lupe. Its immersive approach puts you right in the action, from graffiti-splattered subway stations to the energy of the punk scene.
Created by Martín Allais and Nico Casavecchia, Battlescar was selected for Sundance, Tribeca, Venice International Film Festival and Annecy.
3. Notes On Blindness
Based on the audio diaries of writer and academic John Hull, Notes on Blindness offers an immersive journey into the experience of losing his sight. In 1983, after decades of deteriorating vision, Hull became totally blind and began recording his experiences on audio cassettes. Those original recordings form the basis of this interactive non-fiction VR experience, combining storytelling, visual art, spatialised sound, movement tracking and controller interaction to explore a world beyond sight.
Notes on Blindness demonstrates how VR can do more than create visual spectacle — it can use immersion, sound and interaction to offer a deeply personal perspective on another person’s experience.
4. The Line
Set in a miniature version of 1940s São Paulo, The Line is a 15–20 minute interactive VR story about love and the fear of change. You’re invited into the tiny world of Pedro and Rosa, two figurines who seem perfect for each other but are reluctant to change the lives they’ve built. As the story unfolds, you can interact with the miniature environment — pulling knobs, manipulating objects and even crawling beneath the machinery — to reveal more of their world.
Winner of the 2020 Primetime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media and Best VR Experience at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, The Line is a particularly accessible example of how interaction can make VR storytelling feel tangible and immediate.
5. Madrid Noir
Madrid Noir is an interactive thriller in virtual reality that invites you into a cinematic mystery. Follow Lola as she returns to her uncle Manolo’s Madrid apartment, after he has been declared dead, to retrieve her belongings. But as she explores and relives memories from her childhood, some details don't quite add up, setting her on an adventure full of twists and turns.
Created by the team behind Gloomy Eyes and Battlescar, Madrid Noir combines narrative-driven interaction with a cinematic world. The experience won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Experience in 2022.
Enter the Immersive category
Have you been working on a short film that uses one of the Immersive formats (3D, 180°, and/or 360° video)? Make sure to enter it into the immersive category in the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2027.
You could be flown to Los Angeles for an industry-immersive program at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, culminating in an awards ceremony.