The 78th Venice International Film Festival has just started and the event will explore the changing ways we tell and watch stories with the premiere of Glimpse, an animated short film that will be screened as part of the Venice VR Expanded In-Competition line-up.
Directed by Academy Award winner Benjamin Cleary and VR creator Michael O’Connor, Glimpse stars Taron Egerton (Rocketman) and Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody). In the story, a panda decides to express his heartbreak of ending a relationship with a deer through art. Cleary wrote and directed Stutterer, a 12-minute short film that won the Oscar in 2016. His first feature film, Swan Song, starring Mahershala Ali, Glenn Close, Naomie Harris, and Awkwafina, is set to be released in 2021 on Apple TV+. O'Connor is an XR writer, director, and producer who has worked on such video games as Donkey Kong Country and Super Smash Bros.
On the short film's premiere in Venice, the duo of directors shared the details and emotions involved in telling the heartfelt story and working with Egerton and Boynton:
"Bringing GLIMPSE to life has been one of the most challenging and fulfilling projects we have ever undertaken. We set out to help define the grammar of immersive storytelling and contribute to the emerging canon. To make it happen we put together a phenomenally diverse team of people from film, games, animation, VFX and virtual reality. And then we saw our characters brought to life by the amazingly talented Taron Egerton and Lucy Boynton - two rare and beautiful actors who brought an incredible passion and flexibility to the characters. It means so much to us to be able to show the world Glimpse at Venice, one of the oldest film festivals in the world, yet still so open to and supportive of new forms of storytelling."
In addition to being available at the Venice International Film Festival, Glimpse will also be available at 14 satellite venues around the world from September 1st to the 19th, and it will be available online to watch with a compatible VR headset.
The Venice VR Expanded selection has been a part of the renowned film festival since 2016. This year, the roster is composed of a total of thirty-seven projects (eight 360º videos, twenty-five VR projects, four VR projects upon reservation) from twenty-three countries. Twenty-four of them are in competition for the famous Golden Lion, and you can see the full line-up on the official website.
Here's the official synopsis for Glimpse:
GLIMPSE is a highly emotive, visual feast set in the imaginative mind of a heartbroken panda named Herbie (voiced by Taron Egerton), who has recently broken up with his deer girlfriend Rice (Lucy Boynton). Herbie is an illustrator and through his art we delve back through the memories of his relationship from the heart-breaking end to the beautiful beginning.