Agog-Supported Works Win Two of Three Immersive Prizes at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival

Out of the Ashes receives the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize and Empire at Sea receives the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize; the two projects offer distinct approaches to climate storytelling

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Two projects supported by Agog: The Immersive Media Institute won two of the three prizes awarded today in the Venice Immersive competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Out of the Ashes, co-directed by Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña, received the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize. Empire at Sea, created and directed by Peter Flaherty, earned the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize.

The awards celebrate two distinct approaches to climate storytelling. Out of the Ashes is a virtual-reality documentary about loss, memory, resilience, and rebuilding after the January 2025 Los Angeles fires. Empire at Sea is an interactive solarpunk augmented-reality drama that asks audiences to confront questions of sustainability, migration, inclusion, and collective survival.

"Wendy Schmidt and I founded Agog on the belief that immersive media can bring people closer to urgent issues and help them imagine what change could look like," said Chip Giller, co-founder and executive director of Agog. "At Venice, we saw creators expand what these emerging technologies can do—and audiences responded in deeply personal ways. Out of the Ashes brought people from around the world close to the human toll of the Los Angeles fires, and many saw echoes of what their own communities have experienced. Empire at Sea shows new possibilities for filmmaking by pairing cinematic performance and an accomplished cast with the power of immersive media. Seeing both works recognized on a global stage makes us more excited than ever about immersive media's potential to advance storytelling, contribute to social change, and serve the public good."

"Out of the Ashes and Empire at Sea are ambitious, deeply human works that demonstrate the creative range of immersive storytelling," said Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac, curators of Venice Immersive. "Agog made a meaningful contribution to Venice Immersive this year, not only through its support of three projects selected for competition, but also by creating spaces where artists, producers, technologists, and changemakers could experiment, exchange ideas, and form new connections. That combination of supporting individual projects and investing in the wider ecosystem is exactly what an emerging field needs to grow."

About Out of the Ashes
Narrated by award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance, Out of the Ashes places audiences within the events and aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires. The 26-minute documentary combines first-person storytelling with volumetric reconstructions of participants' homes, created in part from their own family photos and videos. It closes by highlighting community organizations leading recovery efforts, including My Tribe Rise, Evolve Altadena, and the Palisades Recovery Coalition.

The work was created by Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña and co-produced by The Mercantile Agency, Emblematic Group, and Arizona State University's MA in Narrative and Emerging Media program, with support from Agog and the MacArthur Foundation.

Out of the Ashes assets: project page | press kit

About Empire at Sea
Empire at Sea is a 22-minute interactive augmented-reality drama about climate scientists building a sustainable community on a remote oil rig after a catastrophe cuts them off from the mainland. Up to 10 audience members experience cinematic holograms around a custom interactive LED table and navigate together a story about science, sustainability, immigration, and community.

The work was created, directed, and produced by Peter Flaherty; commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and ASU Gammage; developed with Flaherty Pictures, 4DV.ai, and NightLight Labs; and supported by Agog, the Schwarzman Center at Yale University, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. It is scheduled to be presented at Lincoln Center in January 2027.

Empire at Sea assets: project page | website | press kit

Agog at Venice Immersive
Agog supported three projects selected for this year's Venice Immersive competition. The third, Solwata, is a mixed-reality documentary that brings audiences into the lives of communities in Solomon Islands confronting rising seas, displacement, and planned relocation. Created by NowHere Media and co-produced by Human Rights Watch and Agog, the experience is narrated and executive produced by Mark Ruffalo. Following its Venice premiere, Solwata is now being presented at the Toronto International Film Festival's Innovation Hub through Sept. 16. It will next appear at the BFI London Film Festival and COP31, the annual United Nations climate change conference.

Beyond its involvement with the three projects, Agog partnered with Venice Immersive on the occasion of the festival's 10th anniversary to shape discussions about what the next decade could hold, with a focus on impact. Throughout the festival, Agog convened creators, nonprofit leaders, funders, technologists, and cultural leaders for programming including a Smart Glasses Petting Zoo offering hands-on access to the latest emerging technology to consider ways it could be harnessed for storytelling and social good, an imagination workshop focused on expanding what is possible in immersive storytelling, and hands-on- conversations about new creative possibilities and the opportunities for immersive media to spur social change.

These activities are part of Agog's broader efforts to champion ambitious work, connect people across the immersive ecosystem, and help immersive media develop with public purpose at its center. Learn more

About Agog: The Immersive Media Institute
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute is a philanthropic organization founded by Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt that is dedicated to helping creators and nonprofit leaders use immersive media—including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality—to imagine and build a more connected, just, and compassionate world. Agog operates as a field builder and creative partner, supporting immersive storytellers whose work addresses urgent social and environmental challenges. Learn more at agog.org

Media Contacts

Alex Capriotti
Agog
[email protected]
+1-559-349-2804

Jaqueline Lee Rivera
Bryson Gillette
[email protected]
+1-817-917-5741

SOURCE Agog: The Immersive Media Institute