Expanding on the success of the Cannes Film Festival’s Immersive Competition, launched last year, the Marché du Film is set to introduce the Immersive Market for its upcoming edition. This new business-to-business platform, dedicated to immersive art, will run from 13-19 May aboard the Art Explora, a large-scale catamaran designed for cultural initiatives. The setting aims to facilitate connections within the industry and enhance global distribution prospects for immersive works.

A centrepiece of the Immersive Market is the Curators Network, a week-long programme featuring pitching sessions, workshops, and exclusive networking opportunities. Designed to bring together prominent museum curators, cultural venue representatives, and amusement park programmers from around the world, the programme will focus on emerging trends and strategic approaches to immersive art. Participants will engage with cutting-edge projects, both in development and completed, spanning a variety of formats, including AI-driven installations, XR performances, mixed-reality headset experiences, and video mapping.

Complementing the Curators Network, the Immersive Market will also feature Immersive Spotlights, a series of keynote talks, hands-on workshops, and industry networking events. This segment aims to foster dialogue and collaboration between immersive art professionals and experts from related fields such as generative AI, performing arts, and fashion, creating opportunities for cross-industry innovation and engagement.

Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the Marché du Film, emphasised: “The Immersive Market is the natural extension of the Immersive Competition launched last year and illustrates our ongoing ambition to develop innovation at Cannes. We want to play our part in helping spatial storytellers find distribution opportunities and, at the same time, foster stronger connections between the filmmaking industry and immersive professionals. This is perfectly aligned with our strategy to make Cannes a unique place of artistic and technological innovation.”

The venue for this initiative, the Art Explora, is the world’s largest catamaran, measuring 47 meters in length and 18 meters in width. Designed by naval architects Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier, and built at Perini Navi shipyard in Italy, the vessel features a 400-square-meter event space. It will be located just a five-minute walk from the Palais des Festivals.

Frédéric Jousset, president and founder of the Art Explora Foundation, shared: “We look forward to welcoming aboard those who imagine and shape the virtual worlds of tomorrow — digital creation professionals who produce the best in innovation. By hosting this new major professional event, we aim at promoting digital creation and innovation, which we will then share with the widest and most diverse audience possible.”

Access to the Curators Network is exclusive to selected Marché du Film participants and the application deadline is 31 March. Interested applicants can contact Mathieu Gayet at MGayet@festival-cannes.fr