Over the past year, a project called FilmMerton has been running in the south-west London, UK borough of Merton as a community arts outreach, creating pop-up cinemas and short films curated by the community and guest curators. Closing the event will be the Mitcham VR Festival, a free one-day event with virtual reality (VR) content and 360-degree films.
Visitors will be able to engage with a range of immersive experiences covering a wide range of genres, from sci-fi thrillers to romantic dramas and more.
To celebrate the area’s history, an augmented reality (AR) installation called All the Fun of the Fair will provide a unique soundscape and images, all springing to life on iPads. Audiences will be transported back in time to the Mitcham Fair, rumoured to be the oldest fair in England.
As for the rest of the selection, this includes:
- Gloomy Eyes – Starring Colin Farrell, this is the impossible love story of a zombie boy and a human girl
and a reflection on populism as an outlandish preacher oppresses the zombie community. - Memoria: Stories of La Garma – Viewers to explore the memories of a 16,500-year-old cave, once occupied by humans, which has been untouched and preserved for thousands of years.
- The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets – A VR videogame where guests have to solve its mystery by exploring wonderful miniature worlds.
- Judi Dench: My Oak Tree VR – Viewers get to fly around and through the most impressive oak tree in her garden.
- Anonymous – A documentary by Samantha Kingston and her personal story of living with an alcohol dependent parent, hiding the secret and dealing with the death of that parent.
- Crackle Pop – By Mitcham resident and emerging VR director, John Lynch, Crackle Pop is part documentary, part music VR experience which explores the phenomenon of sound to colour synaesthesia.
- Kinch and the Double World – Set in Victorian London, this brings the fantasy adventure to cinematic VR.
- Bro Bots – A VR comedy series involving two British robots – Otis and Roberto – as they arrive in New York to join the NYPD.
The Mitcham VR Festival takes place on Saturday, 7th March from 10am – 5pm GMT. While the event is free to attend and walk-ins accepted, capacity will be limited so it’s advisable to book time slots for the VR experiences you want to see. To book tickets head to the official festival website which has the relevant Eventbrite links.
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