Building on the success of the Immersive Competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the Cannes Film Market is taking a bold step forward by unveiling an exciting new initiative: the Immersive Market. This exclusive B2B event will take place from May 13 to 19, 2025, aboard the Art Explora, an extraordinary catamaran dedicated to hosting cultural projects. The event will offer a unique platform to foster connections and provide new opportunities for the international distribution of immersive works.
A Unique Venue for an Exceptional Event
The Art Explora, the largest catamaran in the world, will serve as the central hub of immersive innovation for an entire week. Designed by naval architects Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier, this remarkable vessel boasts impressive dimensions of 47 meters in length, 18 meters in width, and a 55-meter mast. With a 400 m² event space, it is ideally located just five minutes’ walk from the Palais des Festivals, the heart of the Cannes Festival and Market.
The Curators Network: An Exclusive Program
One of the key highlights of the Immersive Market will be the Curators Network, an intensive seven-day program tailored to professionals in the immersive art field. This platform will bring together curators from museums, cultural venue programmers, and managers of theme parks from around the globe to explore emerging trends, test new strategies, and build connections with the international immersive art community. Participants will discover cutting-edge projects in development or completion, including AI installations, XR performances, VR experiences, and video mapping projects, through pitch sessions, workshops, and exclusive events.
Immersive Spotlights: A Program to Foster Exchange
In addition to the Curators Network, the Immersive Market will also feature Immersive Spotlights, a series of inspiring conferences, practical workshops, and industry networking events. These will provide a platform for immersion professionals and key players in cross-industry sectors such as generative AI, performing arts, and fashion to deepen their knowledge and strengthen their networks. This initiative aims to spark conversations around new technologies and accelerate connections between creators of immersive works and their industry partners.
Supporting Digital Innovation
Guillaume Esmiol, Executive Director of the Cannes Film Market, emphasized the significance of this new initiative: “The Immersive Market is the natural continuation of the Immersive Competition launched last year. We want to help spatial storytellers find distribution opportunities while strengthening the ties between the film industry and immersive professionals. This initiative is a key part of our strategy to make Cannes a unique venue for artistic and technological innovation.”
A Partnership to Promote Digital Creation
Frédéric Jousset, President-Founder of the Art Explora Foundation, also commented on the event: “We are proud of this collaboration with the Cannes Film Festival. The Immersive Market aboard the Art Explora will showcase the best digital and innovative projects while sharing this creation with a wide and diverse audience. This partnership represents our commitment to promoting innovation in the digital creation sector.”
An Opportunity for Immersive Professionals
The Immersive Market offers a unique opportunity for producers, distributors, and creators to explore new collaboration and distribution opportunities. If you are a professional in immersive art, a museum curator, or a cultural venue manager looking for works utilizing cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality, artificial intelligence, or video mapping, now is the time to seize this unparalleled opportunity.
The Immersive Market at the Cannes Film Festival is positioning itself as a major event in the immersive art world, bringing a new dimension to the intersection of technology, culture, and the film industry.
