Sundance Film Festival finds virtual reality on the New Frontier

The 2015 Sundance Film Festival is exploring what may be the future of filmmaking — and you wear it on your head.

"Have you ever had on one of the Oculus Rift [devices]?" asked John Cooper, the festival's director, in describing some of the cutting-edge technology that will be seen in Sundance's New Frontier installations.

The Sundance Institute announced Thursday the content of 13 New Frontier installation works — as well as 23 film titles in the New Frontier, Spotlight and Park City at Midnight sections that will play at the festival Jan. 22-Feb. 1 in Park City and in venues in Salt Lake City, Ogden and the Sundance resort.

The New Frontier installations will have a new home — on Main Street, in the former Claimjumper restaurant — and will highlight "this new wave of creation around virtual-reality storytelling," Cooper said in a phone interview this week.

Danfung Dennis' installation work "Zero Point," for example, is a 3-D, 360-degree documentary that uses the Oculus Rift headset, a virtual-reality display worn like binoculars and headphones for an immersive experience.

In "Assent," artist Oscar Raby uses virtual reality to document the life of his father as a young officer in the Chilean Army just after the 1973 coup that put Gen. Augusto Pinochet in power. And in Max Rheiner's "Birdly," a full-body virtual-reality set-up allows a person to simulate the experience of flying.

The world of virtual-reality storytelling is "moving fast," Cooper said. "I wouldn't be surprised if very shortly we're going to have films — and it might start with short films — that are going to be a full experience. It's right on the brink."

Meanwhile, the Park City at Midnight series features eight films, mostly in the horror and thriller genres. They include such familiar faces as Kevin Bacon (as a sheriff in "Cop Car"), Keanu Reeves (as a man beset by temptresses in "Knock Knock") and Robert Patrick (featured in "Hellions").

The Midnight slate even features a horror film in the form of a documentary: "The Nightmare," a look at the phenomenon of sleep paralysis by director Rodney Ascher — who examined the conspiracy theories behind Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" in his eerie 2012 documentary "Room 237."

The Spotlight section, featuring movies the Sundance programmers liked at other festivals, has a few stars: Jennifer Connelly as a healer in "Aloft," Andrew Garfield as a family man whose house falls to foreclosure in "99 Homes," and up-and-comer Jack O'Connell (soon to be seen in Angelina Jolie's World War II drama "Unbroken") as a British soldier in Belfast in " '71."

Titles in the Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections will be announced Monday, and the short-film selections will be announced Thursday.

Here are the 23 film titles in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier sections of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, announced Thursday.

Also announced are the 13 New Frontier installation works that will be mounted in the former Claimjumper restaurant on Park City's Main Street.

All films produced in the United States, unless otherwise noted.

Spotlight

"6 Desires: DH Lawrence and Sardinia" • (U.K./Italy) Director Mark Cousins creates a cinematic letter to D.H. Lawrence, following the path the writer and his wife, Frieda von Richthofen, took in Sardinia in the winter of 1921.

"'71" • (U.K.) A young and disoriented British soldier (played by "Unbroken" star Jack O'Connell) is left behind on the streets of Belfast after a riot in 1971, and must survive the night alone. Directed by Yann Demange; screenplay by Gregory Burke.

"99 Homes" • Andrew Garfield ("The Amazing Spider-Man") stars as a contractor who loses his family's home to foreclosure, and works to get his house back by working for the greedy real-estate broker (Michael Shannon) responsible for his situation. Directed by Ramin Bahrani ("Man Push Cart," SFF'06), who wrote with Amir Naderi and Bahareh Azimi.

Trailer "ALOFT" by Claudia Llosa from Ymagis Barcelona on Vimeo.

"Aloft" • (Spain/France/Canada) Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa ("Madeinusa," SFF'06) wrote and directs this drama, starring Jennifer Connelly as a healer who receives a visit from the son (Cillian Murphy) she abandoned 20 years earlier.

"Eden" • (France) Director Mia Hansen-Løve, writing with her brother Sven, creates an electronic-dance-music epic about a DJ (based loosely on Sven's life as a DJ and contemporary of Daft Punk) who spends 20 years in the French club scene.

"Girlhood" • (France) No, it's not the sequel to Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" — this is writer-director Céline Sciamma's drama about Marieme (Karidja Touré), a teen who rejects her oppressive family and neighborhood harassment to join with three free-spirited girls — quitting school and changing her name and dress to be accepted.

"The Tribe" • (Ukraine) A deaf-mute teen (Grigoriy Fesenko) tries to fit in at a boarding school for the deaf, in a drama by writer-director Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy that is told entirely in sign language without voiceover or subtitles.

"White God" • (Hungary) Lili (Zsófia Psotta ), a 13-year-old girl, tries to find her dog, Hagen, let loose on the streets by her father because the state deemed the mixed-breed animal "unfit." Directed by Kornél Mundruczó, who co-wrote with Kata Wéber and Viktória Petrányi.

"Wild Tales" • (Argentina/Spain) Writer-director Damián Szifrón tells six interlocking stories, each on a theme of violence and vengeance.

Park City at Midnight

"Cop Car" • A sheriff (Kevin Bacon) tries to find the two 10-year-old boys who stole an abandoned police car. Directed by Jon Watts, who co-wrote with Christopher D. Ford.

"The Hallow" • (Ireland/U.K.) A conservationist (Joseph Mawle) from London goes to survey an ancient forest in Ireland, and must protect his family when he inadvertently awakens demonic beings in the woods. Directed by Corin Hardy, who co-wrote with Felipe Marino.

"Hellions" • (Canada) Bruce McDonald ("Dance Me Outside," SFF'95) and writer Pascal Trottier tell a Halloween horror tale, of a teenager (Chloe Rose) facing three nasty trick-or-treaters. Robert Patrick also stars.

"It Follows" • After a sexual encounter, 19-year-old Jay (Maika Monroe) starts seeing scary visions and believes something is after her, in this thriller by writer-director David Robert Mitchell.

"Knock Knock" • Horror director Eli Roth ("Hostel," "Cabin Fever"), co-writing with Nicolas Lopez and Guillermo Amoedo, pits two beautiful young women (Lorenzo Izzo, Ana De Armas) against a married man (Keanu Reeves).

"The Nightmare" • A documentary-horror film by director Rodney Ascher ("Room 237," SFF'12) reveals eight people's stories of sleep paralysis, being trapped between the sleeping and waking worlds.

"Reversal" • A young woman (Tina Ivlev) escapes the basement where a sexual predator (Richard Tyson) has chained her, then turns the tables on her captor. J.M. Cravioto directs this gritty psychological thriller, written by Rock Shaink and Keith Kjornes.

"Turbo Kid" • (Canada/New Zealand) In a post-apocalyptic future, an outcast called The Kid (Munro Chambers) meets a mystery girl (Laurence Leboeuf), and must save her from Zeus (Michael Ironside), the sadistic leader of the Wasteland. Written and directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell.

New Frontier Films

"The Forbidden Room" • (Canada) Surrealist director Guy Maddin ("Careful," SFF'92; "The Saddest Music in the World," SFF'04) teams with co-director Evan Johnson and writer Robert Kotyk for a story that features "a submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers." The cast includes Geraldine Chaplin, Udo Kier and Charlotte Rampling.

"Liveforever" • (Colombia/Mexico) Driven by music and dance, a teen leaves home willing to try anything that Cali, Colombia, has to offer. Directed by Carlos Moreno ("All Your Dead Ones," SFF'11), who co-wrote with Alberto Ferraras and Alonso Torres.

"The Royal Road" • Filmmaker and LGBT film historian Jenni Olson ("Trailer Camp," SFF'96) serves up a cinematic lesson on the Spanish colonization of California, the Mexican American War, along with notes on nostalgia, butch identity and Hitchcock's "Vertigo."

"Sam Klemke's Time Machine" • (Australia) Director Matthew Bate ("Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure," SFF'11) takes footage shot by Sam Klemke, who has filmed his life for 50 years, to create a portrait of what it means to be human.

"Station to Station" • What does it mean to be creative in the 21st century? Director Doug Aitken asks that question of artists of all disciplines, in 60 individual one-minute films.

"Things of the Aimless Wanderer" • (Rwanda/U.K.) Parallel stories — a 19th century white explorer in Africa encountering a mystery woman, and a modern journalist on a foreign assignment meets a prostitute — explore the relations between Westerners and "locals." Directed and written by Kivu Ruhorahoza.

New Frontier Installations

Descriptions courtesy of the Sundance Institute.

"1979 Revolution Game" • Artists: Navid Khonsari, Vassiliki Khonsari • "'1979 Revolution Game' presents an innovative approach to non-fiction storytelling. Designed to engage players with an immersive 'on the ground' experience of the Iranian Revolution, the game integrates an emotionally impactful narrative with interactive moral choices and intuitive touchscreen gameplay while remaining true to history."

"Assent" • Artist: Oscar Raby • "This immersive documentary uses virtual reality technology to put the user in the footsteps of director Oscar Raby's father, who in 1973 was a 22-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment."

"Birdly" • Artist: Max Rheiner • "Flying is one of the oldest dreams of humankind. 'Birdly' is an experiment to capture this dream, to simulate the experience of being a bird from a first-person perspective. This embodiment is conducted through a full-body virtual reality setup."

"Dérive" • Artist: François Quévillon • "This interactive installation uses the audience's body motions and positions to explore 3-D reconstructions of urban and natural spaces that are transformed according to live environmental data, including meteorological and astronomical phenomena."

"Evolution of Verse" • Artist: Chris Milk • "Chris Milk, working with visual effects powerhouse Digital Domain and virtual reality production company VRSE.works, has created this photo-realistic CGI-rendered 3-D virtual reality film that takes the viewer on a journey from beginning to new beginning."

"Kaiju Fury!" • Artist: Ian Hunter • "A dark energy experiment leads to a devastating attack by monstrous Kaiju, and you are standing at ground zero — all in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3-D cinematic virtual reality. You will 'be there' as the beasts lay waste to a crumbling city and humanity makes its last stand.​"

"Paradise" • Artist: Pleix • "'Paradise' is certainly not paradisiacal if you look at it through our eyes. But neither is it totally devoid of humor, melancholy and absurdity. Perhaps it is first and foremost life as it is, and then a touch exaggerated in the digital overdrive."

"Perspective; Chapter I: The Party" • Artists: Rose Troche, Morris May • "A young college woman attends a party with the intention of shedding her 'shy girl' persona. At the same party, a young man is after a similar reinvention. They meet, drink, and misinterpreted signals turn into things that cannot be undone. Virtual reality simulators let viewers experience both characters. Cast: Tabitha Morella, Caleb Thomas, Zachary Zagoria, Anna Grace Barlow."

"Possibilia" • Artists: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert • "'Possibilia' is a multi-layered narrative experience from acclaimed directing duo the Daniels. The story of two quarreling lovers splits exponentially into more and more possible worlds as their relationship unravels. Cast: Alex Karpovsky, Zoe Jarman."

"Project Syria" • Artists: Nonny de la Peña • "More than one million children have fled Syria and news reports indicate children are being specifically targeted in the violence. By combining pioneering virtual reality technologies with audio and video captured during a real event, audiences feel transported to the powerful scene, becoming witnesses as the intense tragedy unfolds."

"The VR works of Felix & Paul" • Artists: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël • "Felix & Paul's groundbreaking live-action virtual reality experiences range from independent documentary to fictional work with major Hollywood studios and stars. These experiences let viewers sit in the room with musicians making music, roam the Mongolian plains with yak herders, and experience an encounter with the afterlife​."

"Way to Go" • Artists: Vincent Morisset • "It is a walk in the woods. It is an astonishing online and virtual reality interactive experience, a restless panorama, a mixture of hand-made animation, 360-degree video capture, music, dreaming, and code; but mostly it is a walk in the woods, c'mon!"

"Zero Point" • Artist: Danfung Dennis • "'Zero Point,' a 3-D and 360-degree documentary for the Oculus Rift headset, creates an entirely new digital dimension. From combat training simulations to research labs at Stanford to indie game developers and hackers, this immersive experience highlights the future of virtual reality."

movies@sltrib.com

Twitter: @moviecricket

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Sundance passes and tickets

Some passes and ticket packages for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival are still available at the festival's website, sundance.org/festival.

Utah residents can register for a time slot to buy individual tickets, at $20 each, from now to Dec. 15, at 4 p.m.

Tribune's Sundance blog

The Salt Lake Tribune will launch its Sundance blog Tuesday at sltrib.com/blogs/sundance.

Before the festival starts, the blog will feature daily information leading up to the big event — including a "trailer of the day" video touting movies coming to Park City. During the festival, from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1, Tribune staff will have up-to-the-minute coverage on the blog.