Honouring the Virtual Reality Medium
The Milan Film Festival is a vivid memory, a fun and rewarding project I was deeply involved in.
Discovering the MFF's interest in introducing an immersive section to the festival felt like a great opportunity. It was a chance to introduce and engage the general public with immersive experiences that I believed best represented this new medium. This medium stands on its own, often disparaged, dismissed, and underestimated, and unfairly compared to "the future of Cinema" or "3D Cinema," a superficial comparison I always rejected and fought against. It was an opportunity to do justice to this innovative form of communication and to inspire participants with my enthusiasm and passion.
Despite my young age, the MFF president gave me the greenlight to lead and design the immersive section of the MFF, taking care of every aspect. From the selection of the experiences to their fruition inside themed scenographies. From the press conference to the relationships with sponsors and partners. From the ticketing system and managing the flow of people (the famous bottleneck resulting from the limited number of headsets and space) to creating marketing content to tell the story of the event. In addition to the MFF staff, the support and resources provided by the World VR Forum, Proxima Milano, and BASE Milano were essential in realizing the vision.
Inspired by my visit to Fondazione Prada to experience Carne Y Arena by Iñárritu, I decided to emphasize the three different stages of the audience's visit: pre-experience, experience, and post-experience.
Too often, users of immersive content have reported abrupt experiences: being hastily fitted with goggles, sometimes without headphones, in noisy environments with blurry images, or feeling uncomfortable, only to abruptly end their session for the next person. I aimed to address these issues by gently guiding audiences through the experience. Given that this medium inherently abstracts you from reality, the process must be gradual and smooth to minimize discomfort and ensure a seamless transition. Every aspect of the user experience within the space was meticulously crafted to help visitors relax, focus, and open their minds and hearts to connect with the project they were about to experience or just experienced.
The way in which you experience something influences your critical judgment of it. "How" you experience affects "what" you experience.
Moreover, I believe it is the responsibility of every film or art curator to ensure that projects are experienced in the best possible way, honoring the effort and dedication artists put into their work.
The most pleasant and memorable moments were undoubtedly the exchanges I had with the participants of the section, listening to their feelings and gaining insights for improvement. Many surprised faces, laughter, and a few tears of emotion. 
With all the work and commitment we put into it, I also wanted to find a way to quantify and evaluate our performance in a pseudo-scientific manner, so I prepared a questionnaire to give to the participants after their visit. It was a way to evaluate ourselves and to have data to present to potential sponsors the following year for another edition.
- 1000+ Tickets sold in three days
- 16 International Experiences
- 4 Themed Rooms
- VR Theatre hosting 10 people and synched using ShowtimeVR
- 30+ newspapers covering the MFF immersive section
- 95% of visitors are intersted in atteding the next edition
- Average visitor rating: 4.2 out of 5 ★★★★
