Local multimedia organisation Matamba Film Labs for Women will hold an inaugural virtual reality festival dubbed The Matamba Immersive Festival from October 18 to 22.
According to Matamba Film Labs creative director Siza Mukwedini, the festival is meant to expose locals to the future of creative industries.
“It is pertinent that we expose Zimbabweans to the future of creative industries through festivals such as these,” Mukwedini said.
“It is also important that we connect Zimbabweans to their regional and global peers who have already started making headways with new media.
“Zimbabwe is blessed with amazing creative and tech energy and it is time to merge the two.
“As such, the festival will offer refreshing unique activities which include VR, XR, AR,MR,AI and other forms of interactive art coupled with music and other forms of entertainment.”
The week-long festival is both physical and virtual to allow users to use their phones and VR headsets to experience 360 films and digital content from all over the globe.
The films and experiences would be curated from Zimbabwe and the sub-Saharan region as well as from global content creators.
- Zimbabwe creative projects selected for Climate Story Lab ZA
- Matamba to host inaugural reality festival
Keep Reading
Topics ranging from education, entertainment, children and social impact issues will be brought to the fore at the showcase.
Apart from VR screenings, the festival will be offering workshops and industry talks for those who may want to venture into new media related careers.
The training will be on 360 filming, photography, VR, the metaverse and new media for social change.
There will be industry meet-ups with local, regional, and global counterparts with industry giants like Black Rhino VR and Electric South Alumna in full support.
The workshop, which is being hosted by the German Society, will be hosting the Matamba Immersive Incubator programme prior to the festival.
Culture Fund of Zimbabwe and the European Union in Zimbabwe are funding the programme.
The Immersive Incubator programme seeks to incubate three Zimbabwean female creative artists to tell their stories through XR, VR and AR.
During the incubation the selected artists will be trained in various new mediums, connected to other VR, AR and XR experts and supported in the creation process.
The art product will then be premiered at the Matamba Festival in October.
Matamba Film Labs is involved in equipping and empowering the new generation of storytellers with original Zimbabwean and African perspectives to produce compelling films and digital content.
They also engage with other regional and global filmmakers who are producing commercial content for prime time and cinema, with a hope of transferring knowledge, skill and confidence to local storytellers.
Their flagship project is The Future Femme Filmmakers Lab which brings together women creatives interested in cutting edge innovative storytelling methods in various mixed reality techniques.
