Agog-Supported Projects Win Prestigious Awards at Venice Film Festival

Agog: The Immersive Media Institute has seen two of its supported projects win prestigious awards at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Out of the Ashes, co-directed by Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña, received the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize. Empire at Sea, created and directed by Peter Flaherty, earned the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize.

Out of the Ashes is a virtual-reality documentary that explores the aftermath of the January 2025 Los Angeles fires, focusing on loss, memory, resilience, and rebuilding. The 26-minute project combines first-person storytelling with volumetric reconstructions of participants' homes, using family photos and videos. It concludes by highlighting community organizations involved in recovery efforts, such as My Tribe Rise, Evolve Altadena, and the Palisades Recovery Coalition.

Empire at Sea, an interactive augmented-reality drama, imagines a sustainable community built on a remote oil rig after a catastrophe isolates it from the mainland. The 22-minute experience allows up to 10 audience members to navigate a story about science, sustainability, immigration, and community through holograms and an interactive LED table. The project was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and ASU Gammage, developed with Flaherty Pictures, 4DV.ai, and NightLight Labs, and supported by Agog, the Schwarzman Center at Yale University, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Chip Giller, co-founder and executive director of Agog, expressed excitement about the recognition of these works.

Agog supported three projects selected for the Venice Immersive competition, with the third, Solwata, a mixed-reality documentary, addressing the challenges faced by communities in Solomon Islands due to rising seas, displacement, and planned relocation. Created by NowHere Media and co-produced by Human Rights Watch and Agog, the experience is narrated and executive produced by Mark Ruffalo. Following its Venice premiere, Solwata is now being presented at the Toronto International Film Festival's Innovation Hub through September 16.

Agog's broader efforts include convening creators, nonprofit leaders, funders, technologists, and cultural leaders to explore the future of immersive media. The organization aims to champion ambitious work, connect people across the immersive ecosystem, and help immersive media develop with public purpose at its center.