SIFF IMMERSIVE | Tech Empowers Visual Storytelling, “VR Broadway” Lineup Debuts

In recent years, rapid breakthroughs in digital technology, virtual reality, spatial computing and other cutting-edge technologies have reshaped how films are created, distributed and consumed, injecting fresh momentum into the high-quality growth of the sector. Riding this wave of industrial transformation, the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has partnered with the Bureau of Culture and Tourism of Jing’an District to launch the SIFF Immersive section. Centered on deep integration of technology and cinema, the program breaks viewing limits and ushers in a new era of immersive visuals, delivering a groundbreaking feast of audiovisual and tech innovation for film fans and industry professionals alike.

The SIFF Immersive section kicked off on the morning of June 15 at BAIYING CINKER PICTURES in MOHO Jing’an. Throughout this year’s festival, the section will screen a curated selection of brand-new VR and immersive works spanning diverse genres and avant-garde formats, fully showcasing the creative innovations and technical prowess of China’s domestic immersive audiovisual industry. During the launch ceremony, Jing’an District unveiled special supportive policies for its VR content industry and premiered the official trailer for the “VR Broadway” initiative. With three core pillars — policy incentives, technical backing and high-caliber content development — the district aims to fuel high-quality development of Shanghai’s immersive film and television sector.

Curated Immersive Titles Draw Raves from Audiences

The full lineup of SIFF Immersive is screening exclusively at BAIYING CINKER PICTURES, featuring a slate of premium VR productions including Crafted Crimes, Jason Zhang Future • Live -Leave for 1982 World Tour – Bird’s Nest Immersive Concert, The Umbra Mission and Reality Looks Back. All these immersive works will be presented to audiences successively.

The first batch of viewers stepped into the immersive screenings starting at 10:30 a.m. on June 15. Inside the theatre for Crafting Crimes: The Lizzie Borden House, audiences put on VR headsets to transcend the bounds of time and space and plunge into this legendary unsolved historical case. They get to reconstruct the crime scene with their own hands and savour the immersive thrill of cracking the mystery. Audience member Ms. Li shared her impressions, noting that most VR experiences she had tried before were walkthrough-style attractions. This marked her first time watching a VR feature inside a dedicated cinema auditorium. “It felt as if I was talking to the characters and recreating the crime scene alongside them,” she said.

At the screening of Jason Zhang Future • Live -Leave for 1982 World Tour – Bird’s Nest Immersive Concert, immersive, powerful soundscapes instantly recreate the atmosphere of an in-person concert, erasing the physical distance that separates fans from live performances. Audiences get unobstructed close-up views of the singer alongside full, sweeping shots of the elaborate stage setups. The hyper-realistic audio-visual presentation left viewers full of praise. “The experience is absolutely stunning. Every detail of the stage design and even the artist’s facial expressions are crystal clear,” one attendee commented.

Policy Empowerment: Jing’an Unveils “VR Broadway” Initiative

As one of Shanghai’s central downtown districts, Jing’an stands as a premier hub for the city’s cultural and creative industries and the birthplace of technological innovation. Blessed with a profound cultural heritage, a mature industrial ecosystem and top-tier commercial consumption venues, it offers an ideal environment for high-caliber film production and digital content innovation. In recent years, Jing’an has spared no effort to advance the research, development and rollout of premium VR projects. Centering on technological innovation and original content creation, the district has fostered a full industrial ecosystem spanning technological breakthroughs, content production, platform services and real-world scenario deployment.

The newly revised round of cultural and creative industry policies of Jing’an District explicitly backs enterprises that leverage cutting-edge technologies including AI, VR/AR/MR and ultra-high definition to digitally develop and deploy outstanding cultural and creative resources. Financial support is available for businesses building offline new consumption venues such as immersive experience zones and smart cultural & entertainment spaces, with maximum grants reaching RMB 5 million for eligible projects. Beyond funding incentives, Jing’an assists enterprises launching high-quality projects with venue coordination, administrative licensing, marketing promotion and post-launch operational support. It has built a closed-loop service system covering enterprise recruitment, settlement, daily operation and brand growth, safeguarding immersive visual content firms as they establish roots and pursue innovative growth within the district.

Representatives from the Bureau of Culture and Tourism of Jing’an District Detailed the District’s Policies Targeting the VR Content Industry

Fertile ground bears the fruit of technological innovation. SkyRoam, a large-scale XR venue control platform unveiled at the event, was independently developed by Shengshi Wanhe (Shanghai) Culture and Technology Co., Ltd., a leading local cultural and tech enterprise rooted in Jing’an.

The platform enables unified scheduling and content distribution across VR headsets of all major brands and models, addressing long-standing pain points plaguing the industry. It resolves core challenges including poor compatibility between walkthrough-style immersive films and venue layouts, low reusable rates of physical setups, and monotonous single-user experiences. It introduces an innovative operational model that allows multiple distinct titles to run simultaneously within one venue, catering to diverse immersive experiences for separate groups of viewers. The solution drastically boosts venue utilization and content variety for immersive screenings, blazing a new trail for the launch of large-format spatial VR productions across the country.

Peng Qijun, Vice President of Shengshi Wanhe, gave an introduction to the SKYROAM Spatial Computing Platform

Jing’an District also premiered its exclusive lineup for the “VR Broadway” initiative, showcasing a curated selection of original immersive works developed by local enterprises. The slate includes top-tier VR productions such as Horizon of Khufu II: Mystery of the Builders, Millennials, Fairy Tales, Babylon Mirage, The Voyage of Qinghua, Glitch and The Fire Keeper. Spanning historical exploration, youthful narratives, urban romance, fantasy adventure and more, these diverse titles fully demonstrate the originality and creative vitality of Shanghai’s immersive audiovisual sector.

Backed by targeted, practical industrial policies, industry-leading spatial computing technology, the newly launched “VR Broadway” premium slate and a rich array of on-site immersive screenings, the SIFF Immersive section of the 28th SIFF has built a professional, international platform integrating tech demonstrations, content showcases, industry trading and academic exchanges with forward-thinking vision, cutting-edge technology and high-quality immersive works.