Torino Film Industry

An absolute novelty for the 8th edition of TFI Torino Film Industry is TFI Immersive, a new section activated by Film Commission Torino Piemonte dedicated to audiovisual practices that are expanding languages and aesthetics beyond the boundaries of the cinematic screen.

Curated by Sara Tirelli with the collaboration of Federico Anselmi, the section aims to build an observatory for the analysis of the evolution of immersive technologies and digital creation tools, and is part of the activities financed by the European Union in the AVENUE – ERASMUS+ project, supporting the development of European creative industries. This important partnership, which brings together Film Commission Torino Piemonte, CSC Animazione, Politecnico di Torino, Cartoon Italia, and Prodea Group to support the development of European creative industries over the next four years, was first presented during TFI Torino Film Industry 7 by Danish producer Morten Thorning.

With this new program, TFI Torino Film Industry positions itself as a platform for observation, dialogue, and growth for those working in the audiovisual sector who want to keep up with the transformations of a constantly evolving industry, which requires mapping tools and opportunities for discussion to intercept the most current forms of audiovisual content, bring out talent, and support the development of the regional and national ecosystem within a broad international framework.

TFI Immersive is also setting up an Immersive Lounge, with the collaboration and support of the Politecnico di Torino and the Visionary Media Lab of Ingegneria del cinema e dei media digitali. The programme presents some of the most innovative creations by national and international artists, curated by Film Commission Torino Piemonte and ShorTO Film Market, as well as projects carried out by Officine Sintetiche and students from the Politecnico di Torino and the Università degli Studi di Torino, in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.

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Torino is the cradle of cinema since the very beginnings of the seventh art, and has always been a hub for innovation: this is the common thread that leads to TFI Immersive, the new section of TFI Torino Film Industry under which events dedicated to audiovisual experiences that process and re-elaborate expressions of "cinema" (in quotation marks, as appropriate) that expand languages and aesthetics beyond the boundaries of the cinematic screen are gathered.

The Torino-based workshop, market, and meeting event has always been a meeting place for the development of visions and innovative experiences. TFI Torino Film Industry is structured based on the experience of the Production Days of Film Commission Torino Piemonte, which were themselves born from a series of industry activities that, since 2008, including Piemonte Doc Meeting, Piemonte Brand Meeting, New Media Days, and In.Di.Days, have consistently focused on the relationship between moving images, new technologies, and new spaces for fruition. These experiences naturally merged with the programming of ShorTO Film Market, which has always given particular attention to audiovisual experiences born from technological innovations, and the work of Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo in its vertical focus on the relationship between technologies, moving images, and performing arts. This extends up to the 2024 edition, which featured an important panel-think tank led by Tatiana Mazali (Associate Professor at Politecnico di Torino, Head of Ingegneria del cinema e dei mezzi di comunicazione) with the Università di Torino, CSC Immersive Arts, ShorTO Film Market, Creative Europe Desk Italy MEDIA, Unione Editori e Creators digitali ANICA, and ETT, dedicated to the world of immersive content, including hybridization and experimentation, and a showcasing space called the "Immersive Room", set up at the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento.

For this eighth edition, TFI Immersive is presented as a structured project that systematizes panels and workshops with the programming of an Immersive Lounge in the Sala Artisti of the Circolo dei lettori e delle lettrici. The curation of the section is entrusted to Sara Tirelli, artist, filmmaker, and immersive mentor, in collaboration with Federico Anselmi, Head of Industry & Talent Programs at NewImages in Paris. The declared purpose is to build an observatory for the analysis of the rapid evolution of immersive technologies and digital creation tools which, in a constantly evolving sector, are redesigning the way works are conceived, produced, and consumed.

As is always the case with new art forms, the first step is the definition of terms. When talking about innovation and audiovisuals, one often gets lost among acronyms: there is VR (Virtual Reality), which is the totally digital experience with a headset; AR (Augmented Reality), which combines visual layers superimposed on a real context; MR (Mixed Reality), mixed experiences where physical reality actively enters the viewer. «But the most important thing,» Tirelli points out, «is that these new technologies, like AI, have to do with the way we interact with reality. Creators can no longer ignore that our contemporary life is mediated by technology. We are facing a paradigm shift that is happening in both languages and aesthetics».

It is no coincidence that the terms are evolving, as happened at the Venice Film Festival, where they moved from "VR" to the term "Expanded," finally arriving at "Immersive". «I believe that immersive is the most suitable noun: there isn't just VR, but all those forms of audiovisual content that expand into the environment and leave the cinematic screen. This is an expansion not only of form, but often also of venue and location».

The eighth art, as Sara Tirelli likes to call it, which is so seamlessly integrated into TFI Torino Film Industry 8, articulates itself as a medium that, by placing the viewer's body within the scenic space, is capable of speaking without being exclusively and strictly tied to linear narration. In some ways, it recovers the experimental drive of the beginnings of cinema and its technology, which was completely innovative at the time, in a historical moment when no one had yet established any rules.

One might wonder how all this relates to the essence of cinema – but Tirelli warns against a too hasty comparison: «Immersive is not cinema. Certainly, being audiovisual and working with sight, it recalls cinema, but in my opinion, it recalls theater much more. It is a medium that is demonstrating it can stand on its own feet; it is not simply an evolution. On the other hand, true immersion is a specificity of art forms throughout history: Plato's cave was immersive, the Sistine Chapel is immersive, Giotto of the Scrovegni Chapel is immersive». In short, immersive are all instances where the physical presence of a spectator interacts directly with places that art is intrinsically a part of.

In this regard, the great pre-Covid debate born from the advent and strengthening of platforms and streaming from the couch at home – if not from the screen of a phone on the subway – comes to mind⁴⁰. «You cannot say no to technological evolution, just as you cannot say that the only cinematic experience is the theater, ignoring the whole new generation that uses platforms. It is almost a duty for audiovisual professionals to observe what is happening, to scout for opportunities and give them the chance to develop».

Currently, Italy finds itself in an anomalous position, what Tirelli calls the “Venice Paradox”: while on one hand, it hosts one of the most prestigious global events for the sector – the Immersive section of the Venice Film Festival – on the other, it fails to gather the talent that is growing in the country. «A Copernican revolution is needed at the level of acceptance of digital culture, with the construction of an ecosystem, the ideation of funds, and the establishment of a support system for development».

TFI Immersive is born from this necessity, with the declared will to overcome this contradiction and instead find the pace already shared by many other European countries. Anselmi, who has worked internationally with the major players in the sector during his career, recalls that approximately 300 million euros were allocated at a European level for XR projects in just one funding cycle, that new calls for proposals allocate resources for an additional 100 million euros, and that the European Commission itself recently created the Virtual Worlds Association. «There is a clear growth in investment and a willingness to experiment that translates into specific structures, with the consequence that even markets like Cannes are announcing significant investment for immersive art forms. Europe is providing the train and the tracks; Italy risks looking like the only skeptical passenger».

The root of the problem is not exclusively economic, however, but probably, say Tirelli and Anselmi, cultural and institutional: «Investments in culture as a social engine, not just as a form of entertainment, are necessary on the part of institutions, and more than ever, trust and a willingness to collaborate are needed. In Europe, there is much more desire to create partnerships and to financially support artists to aid the true growth of this medium».

A change in perspective from an educational point of view is also crucial, at multiple levels: «I have seen many educational projects around the markets,» says Anselmi. «However, there is a problem again at the European level: universities, the educational systems, are interested, but are reluctant because they don't know where to look for the educational content to show. They are not opposed to using a viewer; they simply say: "How do I show it and what experience do I show?" Small gestures would suffice, like providing lists of experiences and saying: "Let's try". It is fundamental to train new professional profiles, and the approach must be to teach the use of technology and the creative approach, not just the software».

The hope for TFI Immersive is therefore to position itself as a fixed point for the convergence of the drive for innovation: Torino has the ideal identity because it networks the Università degli Studi and the Politecnico, where degree courses dedicated to cinema and audiovisuals are increasingly opening up to attention to new technologies and digital experiences; the innovative soul of institutions like the Museo Nazionale del Cinema and OGR unite, making it fertile ground; the cohesive force is that of Film Commission Torino Piemonte, which has always been attentive to new formats with its support for production and is this year the coordinating body for the construction of TFI Immersive within the AVENUE – ERASMUS+ project supporting the development of European creative industries – of which it is a part with CSC Animazione, Politecnico di Torino, Cartoon Italia, and Prodea Group, as announced at the 2024 edition of TFI Torino Film Industry.

If the real obstacle today is that small organizations lack a reference institution, the goal of supporting authors and talents for the creation of prototypes that give local and national productions the possibility to align with European standards, consolidating the innovative character of the territory, identifies TFI Immersive as an opportunity for Italy to «step in and fill a void that is no longer a black hole: the time is ripe to seize all the best opportunities».