WONDERSPACES AND ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY LAUNCH VIRTUAL REALITY FILM SERIES

A new award-winning VR experience presented every month on Tempe campus

TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wonderspaces, presenters of experiential art in Scottsdale since April 2019, are partnering with Arizona State University's School of Arts, Media and Engineering (AME) to launch a monthly Virtual Reality (VR) Film Series featuring a new celebrated VR film every month for one weekend only on the ASU Campus. The series begins Oct. 29 with the haunting VR film "Gloomy Eyes" by Fernando Maldonaldo and Jorge Tereso.

"Every year, artists create extraordinary VR films that reach only the people who can afford to spend hundreds on VR hardware or who have the opportunity to travel to film festivals," said Jason Shin, Wonderspaces' president. "We're excited to partner with ASU's School of Arts, Media and Engineering to bring those films to the ASU campus, broadening the reach of today's VR art and hopefully encouraging the next generation of VR storytellers."

Steven Tepper, dean and director of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, said, 'We are excited to host these VR films-- examples of the powerful ways in which immersive storytelling can drive new experiences and connection. Immersive storytelling and worldbuilding will be among the fastest growing sectors of the creative economy. This series will give our students exposure to what is possible."

Pavan Turaga, the director of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, said, "We identify 'technofluency' as our mission -- skill development in contemporary technical tools for media content creation. The VR film series from Wonderspaces is an ideal example showcasing technofluency, which will not only motivate our students, but also enable future career paths. We are proud to partner with Wonderspaces."

Tickets for the first six films and experiences will be on sale starting Oct. 19 at https://arizona.wonderspaces.com/tickets and more information is available at https://arizona.wonderspaces.com/vr-film-series-at-asu. Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for children under 13, $10 for all ASU students with ID, and $10 for Wonderspaces members. Each visit runs for approximately 50 minutes, and showtimes start on the hour from noon to 7 p.m. during exhibition weekends.

VR FILM LINEUP

Dates past April 2023 to be announced in January

Oct. 29-30, 2022                     Gloomy Eyes by Fernando Maldonado and Jorge Tereso
Nov. 12-13, 2022                     Paper Birds by 3DAR
Dec. 10-11, 2022                     Madrid Noir by James Castillo
Jan. 21-22, 2023                     Battlescar by Martin Allais and Nico Cassavechia
Feb. 18-19, 2023                     Traveling While Black by Roger Ross Williams
Mar. 18-19, 2023                     Ayahuasca by Jan Kounen, Shigeto: Hovering by Conor
                                                Grebel / Dinner Party by Laura Wexler and Charlotte Stoudt
Apr. 15-16, 2023                     Spheres by Eliza McNitt

ABOUT THE FILMS  VR posters linked here

Gloomy Eyes by Fernando Maldonado and Jorge Tereso
Gloomy Eyes, directed by Fernand Maldonado and Jorge Tereso, produced by Atlas V, and narrated by Colin Farrell, tells the story of a zombie boy named Gloomy in a 360-degree animated world that has fallen into darkness.  This immersive film won SXSW's Virtual Cinema Jury Award in 2019.  https://www.gloomyeyes.co/

Paper Birds by 3DAR
Directed by Frederico Carlini and German Heller, and featuring narration from Archie Yates, Edward Norton, and Joss Stone, Paper Birds is a 30-minute interactive film about a young musician searching for inspiration. It was produced by 3DAR with Baobab and Meta, and presented at the Venice, Cannes, SXSW, and Tribeca Film Festivals.  https://www.3dar.com/p/paper-birds

Madrid Noir by James Castillo
Madrid Noir follows a young woman as she uncovers the secrets of her estranged and deceased uncle by reliving the summers she spent with him as a child. This 45-minute narrative-driven mystery premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and earned recognition at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals. https://www.madridnoir.com/

Battlescar by Martin Allais and Nico Cassavechia
Produced by ATLAS V, Battlescar follows a year in the life of Lupe, a Puerto Rican-American woman navigating the late 1970's New York City punk scene. Directed by Martin Allais and Nico Cassavechia, and featuring Rosario Dawson, Battlescar played at the Venice, Tribeca and Sundance Film Festivals. https://www.battlescarfilm.com/

Traveling While Black by Roger Ross Williams
Directed by Academy Award-winner Roger Ross Williams and produced by Emmy Award-winning Felix & Paul Studios, this documentary-style virtual reality film immerses the viewer in the long history of restriction of movement for Black Americans,confronting the way we understand and talk about race in America. Traveling While Black was produced by Felix and Paul Studios with Oculus the New York Times Op-Docs. https://www.felixandpaul.com/?travelingwhileblack

Spheres by Eliza McNitt
This three-chapter interactive virtual reality journey from writer/director Eliza McNitt and executive producers Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel uncovers the hidden songs of the cosmos. Spheres premiered at the Sundance Film Festival  and received the Grand Prize in VR at the Venice Film Festival. http://www.elizamcnitt.com/spheres

Ayahuasca: Kosmik Journey by Jan Kounen / Shigeto: Hovering by Conor Grebel and 79Ancestors / Dinner Party by
Based on his experiences with Ayahuasca in the Amazon, Jan Kounen created a 17-minute VR experience that invites participants to follow a Shaman through Ayahuasca's psychedelic and spiritual effects.

Shigeto: Hovering, by Conor Grebel, is a transcendent tale of life-giving water brought to a dying planet. The collaboration was created for Shigeto's compilation LP Territories — an audiovisual concept album curated by the 79 Ancestors label.

Dinner Party by Laura Wexler and Charlotte Stoudt, directed by Angel Soto, presents the alien abduction story of Betty and Barney Hill to examine how differently people can experience the same events. Produced by RYOT and Skybound, Dinner Party was presented at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals.

LOCATION
School of Arts, Media and Engineering
950 S. Forest Mall, Stauffer B, Room 102
Tempe, AZ 85281

Based in Los Angeles, Wonderspaces has been presenting extraordinary and accessible art to new audiences through ticketed shows since 2017 and currently operates shows year-round in Scottsdale, Philadelphia, and Austin.

Over a quarter million people have experienced Wonderspaces at Scottsdale Fashion Square in Old Town Scottsdale, which runs year-round and features a rotating lineup of immersive and interactive art.

To learn more, visit wonderspaces.com, @wonderspaces or @wonderspacesaz on social media, or contact Wonderspaces Arizona General Manager Tera Tate at [email protected].

Located within the Herberberger Institute for Design and the Arts, the School of Arts, Media and Engineering educates the next generation of learners and empowers them with technofluency – its development, application and implications. The School of Arts, Media and Engineering prepares students to be socially aware, critically thinking global citizens who strive to bring about positive change in a society that will be increasingly shaped by revolutions in new technologies.

For more information, visit https://artsmediaengineering.asu.edu/.

Media contact: Jason Shin, [email protected]

SOURCE Wonderspaces, Inc.