The Venice International Film Festival opened the submission window for Venice Immersive 2026, the festival's dedicated XR competition held on Lazzaretto Vecchio Island during the Biennale Cinema. The festival runs September 2–12, 2026; submissions close May 7.
Per the official information, the competition admits up to 30 immersive projects as world or international premieres. A separate "Best of Immersive" out-of-competition section will showcase up to ten works that premiered elsewhere this season, plus up to 35 online virtual worlds.
Format eligibility is deliberately broad: 180-degree, 360-degree, Meta and Apple Immersive Video, location-based experiences, and generative or AI-driven XR are all explicitly admitted.
Why it matters
For independent immersive creators, Venice is the prize. Cannes XR, Tribeca Immersive, SXSW XR, and Sundance New Frontier all have weight, but Venice combines the longest history (the section dates to 2017), the highest selectivity (≈30 spots from hundreds of submissions), and the biggest crossover with traditional film distribution. A Venice premiere can put an immersive project in front of buyers who otherwise never see XR work.
The 2026 edition arrives in a different industry context than previous years. Apple Immersive Video has become a de facto premium format. Live broadcasting of immersive content is shipping. Gaussian Splatting is now a delivery standard (see Khronos news). Whatever Venice selects in September will signal what the festival establishment considers immersive cinema in 2026 — and that read echoes through the rest of the year's grant, distribution, and acquisition decisions.
What's next
Submission deadline is May 7. The Biennale College Cinema-Immersive cohort will be announced separately. The full Venice Immersive lineup typically lands in late July, four to six weeks before the festival. Producers should also keep an eye on the Biennale's parallel tracks for development funding — historically, College Immersive selections punch well above their funding weight.