Verve

Director: Michele Fiascaris

Year: 2026

In a rainy and nocturnal London, we follow Miles: a nighthawk, a loner and a voyeuristic photographer. Under the pseudonym 'Rain Catcher', he made a name for himself on social media for his stolen snapshots: morbid and unforgiving portraits of the city's troubled humanity. Soon Miles notices a mysterious woman appearing in his pictures. This shady stalker is following him everywhere, and soon begins sabotaging his life, catapulting him in a Dantesque journey. Every cornerstone of Miles' existence gradually starts to crumble: his online persona, his career, his own life. Aided by his magnetic, gung-ho neighbour Yumi, Miles will embark on a relentless investigation to crack the puzzle leading to his chaser's identity and motive, clue after clue, one snapshot after another, before his world collapses.

Director: Deepa Mann-Kler

Year: 2026

A 20-minute single-player immersive VR experience that places users inside the body of Zoraan, a British-born Sikh woman navigating menopause amidst climate collapse and the ruins of colonial medicine. You breathe with her. You scream with her. You dance your way out of sedation. Blending real-time visuals, bio-haptic feedback and diasporic sound, this work reframes menopause not as decline but as volatile power; closing ‘The Baby Factory’ to ignite a cultural revolution. Using gesture, voice and biometric feedback, audiences become co-conspirators in a volatile act of embodied rebellion. This is not a metaphor. This is an insurgency. Official Selection SXSW 2026 - XR Competition - World premiere

Director: Georges Diodji Ndour

Year: 2025

On a Saturday night, Papis, a lonely 35-year-old gas station attendant, returns home hungry and broke. In his dark apartment, where only his pigeons keep him company, he dreams of escape and comfort. Watching television, he hears about Borom Baax, a mystical spirit said to grant any wish. Desperate, Papis decides to summon it. A lavish meal appears, along with his girlfriend Binette, everything seems perfect. But by opening his door to his fantasies, Papis unknowingly invites something far darker into his life.