1st Workshop on Future Cinema & Performance in the Age of AI & XR
Assem Kroma (Canada)
Modality: Online
This workshop aims to become a platform for researchers and industry practitioners to explore the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Realities (XR) on cinema, and performing and performance arts. This workshop will discuss cutting-edge AI and XR techniques that enhance creative processes, production, audience engagement, and prototyping methods. By fostering collaboration, sharing innovative approaches, and identifying research opportunities, the workshop seeks to advance the integration of AI and XR in artistic domains through educated community action. Participants will benefit from keynote presentations, interactive sessions, and panel discussions, contributing to a growing community dedicated to pioneering AI and XR-driven artistic practices.
Do you want to help our characters to flourish?: “All The Flowers” Transmedia Project Impact Production Workshop
Alejandro Ángel-Torres
(Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Colombia)
Modality: On-site
“All The Flowers” is a feature documentary and transmedia project directed by Carmen Oquendo-Villar that explores Tabaco y Ron, a brothel in Bogotá’s Santafé neighborhood. This brothel provides a safe haven for sex workers and immigrants fleeing armed conflict in a stigmatized urban environment. The film portrays the resilience of its inhabitants, challenging mainstream narratives of Santafé as a chaotic and dangerous ghetto. Since its 2022 premiere at Sheffield DocFest, the film has screened at 18 festivals, winning four awards for its impactful storytelling. It is part of the larger Santafé Project, which includes a theater play, podcast, VR experience, and an impact production campaign.
The project invites communities, academia, and decision-makers to collaborate in its advocacy efforts. Through a workshop titled “Do You Want to Help Our Characters Flourish?”, participants will engage with the film, analyze LGBTIQ+ and urban conflict narratives, and co-develop strategies for the project’s impact campaign. The workshop includes film screenings, discussions, and collaborative exercises based on Doc Society’s Impact Guide, aiming to amplify marginalized voices and foster meaningful dialogue.
Thursday 5th of December
The Posthumanist Turn to Rethink Interactive Digital Narratives
Jaime Rodriguez & Nelson Vera
(Universidad de los Andes, Colombia)
Modality: Hybrid
This workshop explores the “posthumanist turn,” a critical rethinking of the human condition and its hierarchical relationship to non-human entities amidst the challenges of techno-capitalist acceleration and environmental crises. By examining the narratives that uphold anthropocentric perspectives, such as the hero’s journey and linear storytelling, the session invites participants to envision new, non-anthropocentric approaches to storytelling and representation in the age of the Anthropocene.
Through a two-part structure, participants will first engage with philosophical perspectives on posthumanism and their implications for reimagining narratives of self and otherness. In the second part, they will explore interactive systems informed by concepts from cybernetics, HCI, and video games. Collaborative activities will encourage the redesign of interactive digital narratives (e.g., games, installations, web platforms) rooted in Global South perspectives, fostering innovation in non-anthropocentric storytelling.
Social XR and Immersive Theatre
Mirjam Vosmeer
(Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands)
Modality: Hybrid
Over the past decade, social extended reality (XR) has become an intriguing addition to the field of digital interactive narratives. Social XR refers to the integration of immersive technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), in social contexts. Within this workshop, we will explore the possibilities of XR as a medium for immersive theatrical experiences.
For audiences, social XR may present a novel form of collective entertainment that they are eager to explore. But while XR-producers are quickly mastering the technological aspects, and are step by step gathering insights into the social dynamics in immersive story-environments, they often grapple with the challenge of developing compelling storylines to engage their audience with. In this 3-hour workshop, we will therefore delve deeper into the social XR as a medium for digital interactive storytelling.
The session will start with a keynote presentation by Ari Tarr, who will introduce his work and discuss potential platforms and environments for interactive narratives in social XR. Participants will then form small groups and brainstorm how an existing story can be adapted for social XR experiences. Afterwards, participants will reconvene to share their creative endeavors and discuss their insights.
Keynote Speaker
Ari Tarr is a renowned immersive actor, director and designer who works as a virtual performance consultant for VR event companies. Tarr co-founded the first startup focused on creating software for VR theater. He has taught XR event design at NYU, York University, and Brooklyn College and currently serves as a professor of Media Arts at UMT.
Inquiries can be directed to the workshop chairs via email
Dr. Christian Roth
christian.roth@hku.nl
Dr. Paola Harris Bonet
pharris@uninorte.edu.co