New XR Media Category Joins Festival Circuit

Festival Circuit Welcomes New Immersive Media Category for XR Works

LOS ANGELES, November 19, 2025 – The International Festival Consortium (IFC) today announced the addition of a dedicated Immersive Media Competition category for Extended Reality (XR) works across its 15-member festival circuit, effective for the 2026 season. The landmark decision positions XR—encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR)—as a distinct artistic discipline equivalent to traditional film categories, with separate jury evaluation, dedicated prizes, and prime exhibition slots.

The move follows sustained growth in immersive storytelling and mounting evidence of XR’s commercial and cultural viability. The global extended reality market reached USD 251.64 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.93% through 2034, according to recent market analysis from Precedence Research. This expansion reflects accelerating adoption across entertainment, education, and enterprise sectors, with North America maintaining a dominant 42% market share. The IFC’s decision institutionalizes what pioneering festivals have experimented with for nearly a decade, transforming ad-hoc XR showcases into a formalized competitive track.

The new category will accept submissions across three distinct formats: 6-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) interactive experiences, location-based installations, and volumetric capture narratives. Unlike previous years where XR works competed within short film or experimental brackets, the dedicated track ensures specialized curatorial review by jurors with technical expertise in spatial computing and immersive design. Selected projects will screen at flagship IFC venues in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo, with winners receiving the newly created Immersive Media Lion award and guaranteed distribution consultations.

“For years, we’ve witnessed XR artists pushing storytelling boundaries with tools that demand entirely new critical frameworks,” said Margaret Chen, IFC Executive Director and former Venice Immersive programming advisor. “This category acknowledges that a six-minute volumetric documentary requires vastly different evaluation criteria than a 2D short film. We’re not just making room for XR—we’re recognizing it as a mature art form that deserves its own stage, its own standards, and its own celebration.”

The competitive track launches with a submission cap of 75 projects to ensure quality curation and adequate exhibition infrastructure. Requirements include finalized builds optimized for Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro hardware, with additional support for custom installations up to 400 square meters. The IFC will provide technical assistance grants totaling $250,000 to five selected works demonstrating exceptional artistic merit but requiring hardware support. This addresses a critical barrier identified in recent festival reporting, where 40% of qualified XR submissions were withdrawn due to technical presentation costs.

Market data indicates this initiative arrives at a pivotal moment for the medium. The XR sector expanded from $37 billion in 2022 to $49.6 billion in 2023, with interactive 6DoF experiences replacing passive 360° video as the dominant festival format, mirroring Venice Immersive’s documented curatorial evolution since 2016. Cannes Film Festival’s 2024 launch of its official Immersive Competition, which featured eight projects competing for dedicated prizes, validated the model for A-list festivals. The IFC’s circuit-wide adoption scales this validation across multiple international markets simultaneously.

The Immersive Media Competition jury will comprise five members: two filmmakers with XR experience, one technologist, one critic specializing in spatial media, and one previous XR competition winner. Winners receive a $15,000 cash prize, highlighted placement in IFC’s industry marketplace, and automatic consideration for the consortium’s annual Innovation Grant. Submission opens January 15, 2026, with an early deadline fee of $75 and final deadline March 1 at $125.

About the International Festival Consortium

The International Festival Consortium represents 15 curated film and media festivals across five continents, reaching an annual audience of 2.3 million attendees and 8,000 industry professionals. Established in 2011, the IFC coordinates programming standards, shared resources, and collaborative initiatives while preserving each member festival’s distinct identity. Member festivals include the Los Angeles International Film Festival, Tokyo Frontline, London Media Arts Festival, São Paulo Contemporary Cinema Week, and Sydney Digital Arts Festival.